Thomas Joseph Kiernan is a former Ireland

Ireland national rugby union team

The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...

 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

1968 British Lions tour to South Africa

In 1968 the British Lions toured South Africa. The tour was not success in terms of international results, the Lions losing the test series against South Africa by three matches to nil, with the other match drawn. The Lions won 15 of their 16 non-international matches, losing only to Transvaal...

, playing in all four internationals against South Africa

South Africa national rugby union team

The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...

. His nephew, Mike Kiernan

Mike Kiernan

Michael Joseph Kiernan is a former international rugby union player. In 1983 he toured New Zealand with the British and Irish Lions and a the time played club rugby for Dolphin RFC. His uncle, Tom Kiernan, was also an Irish rugby union international.-References:...

, also played for Ireland and the Lions. Tom was also the Munster

Munster Rugby

Munster Rugby is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Munster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 and Heineken Cup.The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union Munster Branch which is one of four primary branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union in the Irish...

 team coach for their famous victory over the All Blacks in 1978

History of rugby union matches between Munster and New Zealand

Munster Rugby has a strong tradition of competitiveness against touring rugby teams. They have played the All Blacks, the national team of New Zealand, 8 times since 1905...

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