Thomas Joseph Kiernan (born 7 January 1939) is a former Ireland international rugby union player. He won 54 caps for Ireland as a full-back between 1960 and 1973 and captained his country 24 times. At the time of his retirement he was Ireland's most-capped player, most experienced captain and record scorer in international with 158 points. He captained the 1968 British Lions tour to South Africa, playing in all four internationals against South Africa. His nephew, Mike Kiernan, also played for Ireland and the Lions. Tom was also the Munster team coach for their famous victory over the All Blacks in 1978.
When Tom Kiernan was being interviewed on the occasion of his fiftieth cap for Ireland, he was asked who he thought was the greatest rugby player of his time, and replied:
- "Ken Scotland. It was a privilege to be on the same field as him."[1]
References
- Griffiths, John (1987). The Phoenix Book of International Rugby Records. London: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. ISBN 0-460-07003-7.
- ^ Massie, Allan A Portrait of Scottish Rugby (Polygon, Edinburgh; ISBN 0 904919 84 6), p137
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British and Irish Lions team captains |
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To 1910
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To present
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Notes
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Note 1: Robert Seddon died on tour after a boating accident, Andrew Stoddart, became captain for the remainder of the tour.
Note 2: Matthew Mullineux decided that after losing the first test that he should withdraw from further test matches, handing on field captaincy to Frank Stout, but remained tour captain.
Note 3: David Bedell-Sivright was injured during the first test. Teddy Morgan took over captaincy on the field but Bedell-Sivright remained tour captain.
Note 4: The team that John Raphael captained was not selected by the four Home Nations governing body, but had been organised by Oxford University and billed as the English Rugby Union team. However, it was denoted as the Combined British team by its Argentine hosts because it also included three Scots.
Note 5: Jack Jones captained the first test only, but Tommy Smyth remained the tour captain.
Note 6: Brian O'Driscoll was injured at the beginning of the first test. Martin Corry and Gareth Thomas took over captaincy on the field but O'Driscoll remained tour captain.
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