Jack Kyle 1926-2014

Jack Kyle who passed away today was the last surviving Ulster player on the team that lifted Ireland's first Grand Slam in 1948. In all the trainee Doctor (pre-1951) and later surgeon made 46 appearances for Ireland from 1946-1958, and appeared 6 times for the British Lions on his only tour with them to Australia and New Zealand in 1950.

As a result of that tour he was named one of the six players of the year in the 1950 New Zealand Rugby Almanac which said  he was "an excellent team man, faultless in his handling, able to send out lengthy and accurate passes, and adept at making play for his supports." In 2002 he was named the Greatest Ever Irish Rugby player, the captain of that team a fellow doctor Karl Mullen was then named the Greatest Captain.

At the time of the 1948 5 Five Nations series he was one of a number of student doctors on the team, he was to graduate from The Queen's University of Belfast in 1951. He at the time without the substitutions we know today he played from his international debut in 1947 for an impressive seven consecutive seasons without injury until he briefly was unable to play in 1954.

After scoring one of his seven international tries in 1953 at Ravenhill one of the journalist immortalised the event in verse.

They seek him here, they seek him thereThose Frenchies seek him everywhere.That paragon of pace and guile,That demned elusive Jackie Kyle.

After he retired from international rugby he embarked on humanitarian work using his medical skills first in Sumatra and Indonesia, then from 1966-2000 as a consultant surgeon in Zambia. Therefore as well as being installed in the IRB Hall of Fame in 2008 he also the year previously received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Irish Journal of Medical Science and the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland.

When Ireland won their second Grand Slam on 15 February 2009 Kyle was there to witness the passing of the flame. Seven other men from that original team 61 years earlier where still alive to see the day.

• Karl Mullen the Leinster hooker survived just a couple of months dying on 29 April 2009
• Leinster lock Colm Callan lived to see the next 6 nations but passed away 30 May 2010
• Ulster lock Jimmy Nelson passed away on 13 June 2014 aged 92
• Munster wing Bertie O'Hanlon turned 90 last month
• Jim McCarthy the Munster Flanker turned 90 in June
• Connaught centre Paddy Reid turned 90 in March
• Leinster centre Mick O'Flanagan turned 92 in September

Other members of that momentous team included Des O'Brien the 1966 Lions manager, Billy McKay a fellow student doctor at Queens, Barney Mullan, John Daly.

Dr Jack Wilson Kyle - Ulster, Ireland and British Lions Rugby 10 January 1923 - 27 November 2014

Giro d'Ireland: Giro d'Italia 2014 Grand Depart #GirodItalia #Giro2014

So yesterday the planned route for the Grand Depart of the 2014 Giro d'Italia from Belfast were announced. In all the race will spend three days in Ireland before heading to Italy for pastures more familiar than new.

But

Day 1

 The opening day is over roads I know very well. Some I have run along as part of 10ks or the Belfast Marathon and some I have taken my lunchtime walk along.

It is a 22km time trial which starts at the now iconic Titanic Experience before heading over the bridge to go up the Newtownards Road all the way to the Stormont Estate, they will head up the Prince of Wales Avenue giving the trailing camera bikes the iconic view of the white front of Parliament Building in front of the riders before they exit the estate to the east.

Then it is back in along the Newtownards Road over the Lagan and although near the finish the cyclists will take a loop out past the Waterfront Hall down the Ormeau Road along the Stranmillis Embankment and back in to the city centre past Queen's University to finish outside City Hall.

Now some have complained that the route doesn't include West Belfast, but it certainly ratchets up a whole host of landmarks and Belfast shorthand in a short 22km stage.

Day 2

After showing all the icons of Belfast off on the opening day, day two will cover some of the icons of Northern Ireland and the most beautiful road into the bargin.

The route will leave Belfast and head as directly as possible to the North Coast. Arriving past the oldest licensed distillery in the world at Bushmils. Then it will turn East along the Antrim Coast Road past the Giant's Causeway, then on the somewhat lumpy route through the Glens with some beautiful vistas across some valleys and through some rock arches.

The road will become relatively flat as it approaches Larne when it starts to hug the coast more, but there will be a few little hills such  as at Whitehead, when it returns to the shores of Belfast Lough, heads past Carrickfergus Castle and back into Belfast for what should be a sprinters finish. Is it too early for me to predict that Mark Cavendish's first win on British soil in a Grand Tour will come on this stage?

Day 3

 The final day in Ireland is a cross border affair as it crosses the UK's only land border with another EU member state.

It starts out in the city of two cathedrals, Armagh, the seat of the Angligan and Roman Catholic Archbishop Primates of All Ireland. The route will meander through south Armagh and south Down, sadly not taking in the Mournes, but then the roads there don't go over the high points.

It will cross the border near Newry and then head to Castlebellingham where the troops of William III camped on the eve of the Battle of the Boyne. James II had razed the building as the result of Bellingham acting as a guide to William. It will head on through Balbriggan which received notoriety in the war of independence when the Black and Tans sacked the town destroying 54 houses and the hosiery factory.

On a day that will give commentators plenty of Irish history to talk about the race will end in the other capital city on the island having finished in the other one of the last two days.

I'm looking forward to welcoming the Giro to Ireland and am thinking about where I'd like to watch it pass on each of the three days.

First Irish world gold for 18 years.

The last time Ireland won a medal in the World Athletics Championships it was a silver in 2009, before that it was another silver in 2003. Both those came in the women's 20km walk to Olive Loughnane and Gillian O'Sullivan respectively. The last time Ireland won a gold it was in 1995 by Sonia O'Sullivan in the women's 5000m, who had won silver in the 1500m two years earlier. The last time an Irish man won a medal of any description was in the first World Athletics Championships back in 1983, when Eamon Coghlan took gold in the 5000m.

That was until this morning.

This morning Ireland earned their third World Athletics gold medal, their third medal in the walking events and only the second medal (both gold) by any male athlete. Today in Moscow Rob Heffernan made a little bit of Irish history.

Heffernan, from Cork, had been fourth in the Olympics last year in the 50km walk and at the start today as three men pulled away it looked like he could best hope for the same today. The three had been Mikhail Ryzhov and Ivan Noskov both of Russia and Jared Tallent of Australia. At 15km those three were 12 seconds ahead, but 10km later Rob Heffernan was with them. Then 10km further on with just 15km remaining the Irish man had assumed the lead ahead of the two Russians and Poland's Gregorz Sudal. Tennent was still hanging just behind.With about 10km remaining Heffernan had the sole lead, from Ryzhov, Tallent over took Noskov and Sudal and the order at the line was Heffernan, 62 seconds ahead of Ryzhov five seconds ahead of Tallent.

The Irishman's winning time of 3 hours, 37 minutes and 56 seconds is the fastest in the world this year by more than three minutes on the previous best. But two seconds slower than his Irish national record which he set in London last August.

No Slam this Year

It has been a good weekend for many rugby followers, my apologies to Peter Black and and the whole plethora of English Lib Dem Bloggers. As an Irishman resident in Scotland it has been a glorious weekend. We are three weeks into this years six nations and already no country is on course for a Grand Slam and only Italy are really out of the running for winning this season.

With Scotland beating the previously unbeaten English at Murrayfield yesterday, I wish I'd not attempted to change trains at Haymarket at 4:45 yesterday and Ireland beating Wales this afternoon, I'm one happy rugby fan. Now there are four countries with a 2-1 record, England, France, Ireland and Scotland. It makes all the matches in the last two weeks vitally important.

I'm just happy that Ireland are not scheduled to play Scotland during Scottish conference weekend this year. A couple of years back at the BBC reception on the Friday night the head of BBC Scotland addressed the delegates by saying I hope you will all be cheering on Scotland as they take on Ireland in tomorrow evenings tie. I said out load not all of us, know the people to the left hand side would expect nothing less, only to turn to my right and see the then Scottish leader Jim Wallace smiling broadly at my comment. Fortunately he has not borne me a grudge. Although I am led to believe we were cheering on different teams at Murrayfield last year.

Mind you Ireland have the last game of this years six nations on 18th March when we take on England at Twickenham. Who knows how important that game will turn out to be for both teams?

So England Beat Australia...

...cast your mind back to last summer.

remember this

Thought not!

Ireland beat the West Indies...AGAIN.

Now which team was the first to beat the English Rugby World Champion's. Lets see if the ECCB arrange a match in Sion Mills soon.