Ireland has lost one of its all-time sporting legends with the death of Jack Kyle. Out-half on the Grand Slam-winning Irish rugby team of 1948, the Belfast surgeon played 46 times for Ireland and another six with the British and Irish Lions.

He won a Grand Slam, two triple Crowns and another Five Nations in 1951 and played on for Ireland until 1958. Upon his retirement, he was the world’s most-capped rugby international.

John Wilson Kyle was born in Belfast on February 10th 1926. Following in the footsteps of his elder brother Eric, who played for Ulster, he first began to show promise as a schoolboy at the Belfast Royal Academy.

He played full-back for Ulster Schools but became an outhalf when he went to Queen’s University to study medicine in 1944.

Second Captains

His first Ireland cap came against France in 1947 and by the following year he was the key player in Karl Mullen’s historic team that won every match in the Five Nations, a feat that stand alone in Irish rugby until Brian O’Driscoll’s team matched them 61 years later.

Kyle went on to be a Lions stalwart on the tour to New Zealand and Australia in 1951 and was hailed by observers of all nationalities as an adornment to the number 10 position.

When his rugby career was finished, Kyle went on to have an incredible second life. He worked as a surgeon in Indonesia and Sumatra before finally settling in Zambia where he would stay for 34 years.

His work in Africa was honoured with an honorary doctorate from Queen’s University in 1991, and a lifetime achievement award by the Irish Journal of Medical Science and the Royal Academy of Medicine of Ireland.

He returned to Belfast in 2000 and was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame in 2006. A gentleman to all who had the pleasure of meeting him, Jack Kyle died this morning at the age of 88. He is survived by his children, Caleb and Justine.

Tributes have poured in, on Twitter and elsewhere. Chief among them came from the only other outhalf ever to win a Grand Slam with Ireland. Ronan O’Gara posted: “Was great to have shared the day with Jack Kyle in Cardiff in 09. A thorough gentleman. Deepest sympathies to his loved ones.”