Aussie commentator Phil Kearns blasts Kiwis as poor winners

Beauden Barrett and TJ Peranara celebrate with the 2016 Super Rugby trophy in Wellington. Photo / Getty

Former Wallaby captain Phil Kearns has labelled New Zealand rugby as poor winners, after the Hurricanes' Super Rugby final victory over the Lions in Wellington.

The Fox pundit reckoned: "Talk about gracious speeches - I'd love New Zealanders when they win something just to acknowledge the opposition. Two rugby World Cups and a Super Rugby title...I wonder if it's a tactic...we're not going to acknowledge people we defeat."

Fellow commentator Rod Kafer offered another view, claiming New Zealanders "like to keep things internal".

Kearns caused an uproar last year when he claimed South African referee Craig Joubert had a "shocker" when the Waratahs lost their semifinal to the Highlanders.

Kearns didn't back down then either.

"Craig Joubert, in my view, is one of the better referees in the game but the other night he had a shocker," Kearns said, after copping a load of trans-Tasman criticism.

"So you Kiwis shut up. That same ref gifted you the World Cup final in 2011 - just ask the rest of the world."

Kearns, who is noted for some one-eyed commentary, was described as a sore loser and a hypocrite by social media users although another said "not sure if this is accurate or not, but yeah opposition teams need to be acknowledged."