Murphy Recalls Friendship With Kyle

Sean McCarthy of the Evening Echo spoke to Munster and Ireland stalwart Noel Murphy about his memories of Grand Slam icon Jack Kyle.

THEY say that first impressions last and that was the case when Cork Constitution’s Noel Murphy met rugby legend Jackie Kyle.

The former Munster and Ireland wing forward was a nervous 21 year-old and was at the Ireland team run-out the day before he made his debut against Australia when he had his first encounter with Kyle.

“I met Jackie the day before I made my debut against Australia in 1958. Back in those days we met on the Friday before the game and had a team meeting in the Shelbourne, then we’d have a run through at a training session which lasted between 40 minutes and an hour, that was the way things were done back then.

“We were having a run through on the Friday and myself and David Hewitt, David would have been 19 or 20 making his debut and I think I was 21, I was playing wing-forward and David in the centre so we’d have been quite nervous and certainly very new to what was happening but Jackie just walked up to us as cool as a breeze shook hands and said ‘Gentlemen, if there is anything I can do for you tomorrow just let me know.’ He smiled and walked away and in my eyes that summed the man up, no fuss but there to lend a hand or say a kind word if it was needed.

“I know people say it when somebody dies, but I can’t think of another word than gentleman to describe Jackie.

“I think I read it somewhere and I think it sums up what I thought of him in a nutshell ‘I was lucky to have played with him but was privileged to have known him.’”

It should be remembered that when Kyle died, his death was mourned worldwide. That was pretty phenomenal given that he had preceded the electronic age by some 50 years so a lot of those that may have mourned him may not have got to see him play but had heard of his exploits from previous generations or were touched by the life of a very decent and kind human being who just happened also to be a great rugby player.

Those who got to see him play and read of his exploits on the rugby fields of Europe were always left looking for more says Murphy.

“He will never be forgotten. He was known worldwide and that was in a time before the internet and where most places didn’t even have a phone.

“People would read about his exploits in the newspapers and whether it was in pubs, clubs or anywhere the talk would be of Jack Kyle. He would have been one of the most talked about sportsmen of his era, not just in Ireland but worldwide.

“I remember being in New Zealand in 2007 and talking to 60, 70 and 80 year-old New Zealanders who all said that he was the best Lions tourist they’d ever seen.”

We’re still talking here about a player who hung up his boots nearly 60 years ago so that tells you the standing he has in the game.

They have had a lot of players tour their country since he had been but the fact that they had hadn’t seen his equal gives you a bit of perspective of how good he regardless of what era he played in amateur or professional.

“I always say it that if I ever mentioned in conversation that my standing would go up a notch,” Murphy says with a little laugh.”

Noel remembers being almost in awe of the Ulster-born fly-half, his ability to make space for himself long before the advent of bulldozing back-rows and centres stood him out in his time in the Ireland and Lions shirt as a playmaker in the truest sense.

“He was a fabulous player very elusive and I suppose he set the tone for great out-halves that Ireland produced after he was gone. He set a new standard for others to follow,” says the man who has seen many fine players in his day.

“He was innovative for his time.

“I was a wing forward and you’d look up from a ruck or scrum and you’d almost be looking to see where he was gone. He was a player who could make space for himself and was fabulous to watch in full flow.”

While their paths may have only crossed for a season at international level, it led to a lifelong friendship that spanned nearly six decades.

While Kyle was still in practise in Zambia, they may not have seen each other – other than occasionally but met once Kyle had retired and returned to Ireland.

In fact, Murphy – as then president of the IRFU – was invited by the Zambia Union to attend Kyle’s farewell party in Zambia and that dinner re-inforced what the Corkman knew already.

“Even after he had finished playing Jackie showed what kind of a man he was. He was qualified as a surgeon and could have had a big successful practise in Belfast but instead chose to go to an underprivileged part of the world. He went to Indonesia first and when the political situation changed there he went to Zambia.

“His farewell dinner in Zambia blew me away a bit. The president of the Union in Zambia worked for John Sisk (Zambia) and an invitation went to the IRFU for somebody to attend Jackie’s farewell dinner and as president of the IRFU, I was chosen.

“There were maybe 500 people at the dinner and most of them were patients or patients families and to hear the way the talked so glowingly about Jackie was wonderful.

“I got to know him from playing with him and we’d meet up at international matches if he was home from Zambia once he had retired from playing usually around the time of the internationals. We’d have met a lot since he returned to Ireland permanently.”

Murphy is still learning things about his old friend this week.

“I’m just reading his daughter’s book about him at the moment A conversation with my Father by Justine Kyle-McGrath and I’m still learning things about him that I didn’t know. In fact I was just reading the letter he sent to the Times on July 26, 1956 about Ian Paisley.

“He certainly didn’t hold back and probably wasn’t popular in the north for what he said at the time, but Jack spoke his mind when he needed to.

“The other thing I remember about Jackie was that he had a love of Irish culture, history and poetry and was particularly fond of WB Yeats.

“He spoke at a Cork Con AIL pre-match lunch and people were mesmerised by him and he way he stopped and had his photo taken with anybody who wanted one.

“I think the word legend can be misused sometimes. In my mind a legend is somebody who lives on after he/she has passed on.

“In reality how many legends have we had in Cork. Christy Ring, the late Mick Barry they’re few and far between but you could certainly add Jackie’s name to that pair.”