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8
ULSTER
RUGBY
www.
ulster
rugby.com
JACK KYLE
Below on the pitch stood some of Ulster’s most
illustrious players, but it was surely right that,
looking down upon them and across the pitch
he had so often adorned, the diminutive figure of
Ireland’s most distinguished performer should force
heads to turn, and for the big new screens to fill with
his benevolent image.
On Friday of last week the most supreme out-half of
his and any generation, a man of great achievement
in medicine, a learned and wise counsel to all who
had the privilege to be in his presence, took his
leave. At 88 years young Jack Kyle had lived a life
so full and selfless that most of us can only remain
in awe of an athlete and intellect, a humility and
generosity which rarely are found combined in one
human being.
In the past week tributes have been flooding the
airwaves and filling acres of newsprint, and it is
testament to the character of Jack Wilson Kyle,
born in 1926 in Belfast, that what has been said to
honour him was quite properly said when he lived
so vibrantly amongst us.
Statistics and accolades can hint at the nature of
a person, but Jack – or Jackie – Kyle lived a life
which was marked by the old-fashioned virtues he
found so instinctive and we all admired and valued.
He was so thoroughly decent and honest in all his
dealings, and in his very carriage we saw someone
who had walked life’s path with a smile on his
face, and who found in everyone something worth
cherishing.
Perhaps it was his calling and training as a doctor
which added lustre to a wondrous set of sporting
skills and rounded a character of real depth and
integrity. Jack Kyle wore his many talents lightly, but
he was as conscientious as he was self-conscious
about the plaudits he gathered either as a Grand
Slam-winning out-half in 1948, or as a surgeon in
the outer reaches of the Far East and later, most
publicly, in Africa.
When news came last weekend to the modest town
of Chingola in Zambia of the passing of ‘Dr Jack’ the
sense of loss was as keen as it was in his beloved
Province, and in every corner of the world where
Dapper, smiling, and waving rather self-consciously to the throng,
Jack Kyle stood suitably alone on a balcony as, on a fresh April evening
this year, the packed Kingspan Stadium was formally opened.
JACK KYLE
OBE
A TALENT WHICH KEPT ON GIVING