Rachel Smalley: Why are Kiwi sports fans such sore losers?

So we lost a league match at the weekend.

And it was a shock loss. The Kiwis losing to Fiji in the quarterfinals of the Rugby League World Cup.

Shaun Johnson, the most high profile player, has apologised for the comments he made after that match. In the moments after the final whistle, he said supporters and the media had predicted the team's demise, and they'd got their way.

I can understand his frustration, I really can. It's the worst World Cup result by a Kiwis side, and that would be tough to shoulder.

That said, although his comments weren't ideal, the response from fans was hideous.

Why is it that New Zealand supporters can't cope with a loss? Why is that? Is it because we only want to back winners? Do we have "small country syndrome"? We need to win or we consider ourselves an international embarrassment?

Johnson, the Kiwis' halfback, was slammed.

He was told he was overpaid, overrated, and he was the sole reason for the Kiwis' loss. People told him to shoot himself. Seriously. Who does that? In a country with a well documented mental health crisis, we've got people wading into a footy player and telling him to kill himself.

And you can't blame social media for this, because we've reacted this way for years and years.

Remember when the All Blacks lost to France in the quarterfinals of the Rugby World Cup in Cardiff? Remember the reaction? The team and Graham Henry were abused and ridiculed within an inch of their lives. That was awful. Truly.

So why can't we cope with a loss, do you think? Why do we only want to back winners?

John Hart's been attacked too. Dean Barker. Anyone who loses, basically. We turn on them.

If you look at the Brits, and some of the diehard football supporters, they'll back their teams through all weathers, the good times and the bad. The huge wins, the horrendous losses... they're there, every week, through thick and thin.

We're not. New Zealanders turn on a team the moment it fails to perform to the fans' expectations.

But what possible justification can there be for telling Shaun Johnson to shoot himself? Let's strip it back to what it is. There are 13 men wearing a black jersey and chasing an oval object around a paddock. And sometimes our team is better with the oval object than the other team, and sometimes a team is not.

And I'm not over-simplifying sport. I'm really not. But I'm just trying to illustrate that we're not talking about a criminal act here. We're talking about a game of footy.

And irrespective of the result, telling the captain to shoot himself comes from a very troubled and twisted mindset.

Why do we attack and round on players and teams when they lose? It says more about us, than anything.

New Zealanders can't cope with losing. Why do you think that is?