John Wilson Kyle was born in Belfast on 10 January 1926 and educated at Queen's University, Belfast where he qualified in medicine. In later life he spent 30 years as a surgeon in Zambia. Jack Kyle played for NIFC and was considered the finest fly-half of his generation. He first played for Ireland in two uncapped Victory internationals in 1945/46 and from 1947 played in seven consecutive championship seasons, including the Grand Slam of 1948, before injury temporarily interrupted the sequence in 1954. By the time he played his final international in 1958 his 46 caps, plus six for the British Isles in 1950, had established a new world record. He also captained Ireland in six matches. On the 1950 British Isles tour of Australasia he played in 21 of the 30 fixtures and afterwards had the rare distinction of being voted as one of the New Zealand Rugby Almanack's five players of the year. He captained the Barbarians against Swansea in 1949 and East Midlands in 1953.