 |
Neri
Clinics is greatly honoured to announce Dr. Jack
Kyle as our patron. Aside from an esteemed
medical career and legendary status in
International Rugby he is no stranger to
Missionary work in
Zambia, having worked as a
surgeon in
Chingola,
Zambia from 1966
to 2000.
|
|
Dr. Jack Kyle is the former
rugby union
player who played for
Ireland, the
British Lions and the
Barbarians
during the 1940s and 1950s. In 1950 Kyle was
declared one of the six players of the year by
the New Zealand
Rugby Almanac, in
1999 he was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame,
in 2002 he was named the
Greatest Ever Irish Rugby
Player by the
Rugby Football Union"
Irish Rugby Football Union,
and in 2008 he was inducted into the
IRB Hall of Fame
|
Jack Kyle was educated at
Belfast Royal Academy and studied medicine at Queen's University, Belfast. He graduated
in 1951 and in 1991 he was awarded an Honorary
Doctorate by the University. In 2007 he was
awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the
Irish Journal of Medical Science and the
Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland. He has
also been awarded an
OBE
|
Doctor / Missionary in Africa
Kyle spent a significant part of his adult life
as a missionary in Africa, helping the poor and the unwell. His life has been an
inspiration to people all over the world.
|
Rugby international
Ireland
Jack Kyle first played for
Ireland
during the
Second World War
in a friendly against a
British Army XV.
However no caps were awarded. Between
1947 and
1958, while
playing for
Ireland, he
went onto make 46 full appearances and score 24
points, including 7 tries. The highlight of his
Ireland career came during the
1948 Five Nations
Championship when, together with
Karl Mullen
and
Mick O'Flanagan,
he was pivotal in Ireland winning the
grand slam.
He played in all four games and he is often
credited with masterminding Ireland’s
success. In
1949 he
also helped
Ireland
win the
Triple Crown
and in
1951 they
won the title again. He made his last appearance
for
against
Scotland on
March 1
1958.
Following a solo try against
France at
Ravenhill
in
1953, an
impressed newspaper journalist parodied
The Scarlet
Pimpernel with the lines:
They seek him here, they seek him there
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere.
That paragon of pace and guile,
That demned elusive Jackie Kyle.
|
 |
British Lions
In 1950 Dr. Kyle also played for the
British Lions
on their
tour to New Zealand
and Australia. He played in 20 of the
29 games, including all six Tests. Among his
tour highlights was a display that came in the
first Test, a 9-9 draw with
New Zealand.
Of the Lions' nine points, he scored a try,
created another for
Ken Jones
and won a penalty that was converted by
John Robins.
During the tour, he also scored a try in the
24-3 defeat of
Australia
|
|
Recent Years
After retiring from club
rugby in 1963 Dr. Kyle, embarked on humanitarian
work in Sumatra and Indonesia. Between 1966 and 2000 he
worked as a consultant surgeon in Chingola, Zambia. He then returned to
Northern Ireland and settled in
County Down. He remained involved in
rugby and in 2001 established the The Jack Kyle
Bursary Fund in support of the
Queen's University RFC Rugby Academy |
|
|
|
|
|
|
