Phil Kearns

Last updated

Phil Kearns
AM
Birth namePhilip Nicholas Kearns
Date of birth (1967-06-27) 27 June 1967 (age 56)
Place of birth Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
School Newington College, Sydney
University University of New South Wales
Occupation(s) Commentator, Journalist
Rugby union career
Position(s) Hooker
Senior career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
Randwick ()
Provincial / State sides
YearsTeamApps(Points)
New South Wales 73 [1] ()
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1989–1999 Australia 67 (34)

Philip Nicholas Kearns AM (born 27 June 1967) is an Australian former rugby union player. He represented the Wallabies 67 times and was captain on ten occasions. He is a rugby commentator with the Fox Sports TV channel.

Contents

Biography

Kearns was born in Sydney Australia and educated at Newington College (1979–84) [2] and the University of New South Wales where he graduated with an Arts degree, majoring in Economics. [3] He played his provincial rugby for New South Wales.

He made his Wallaby debut in 1989.

He enjoyed a rivalry on the pitch with New Zealand's Sean Fitzpatrick. During one Bledisloe Cup match he scored a try by barging through Fitzpatrick and then made a two fingered gesture to him, saying something which most TV watchers thought they could lip read.[ citation needed ] Kearns insisted he said "Two sausages at tonight's barbecue please". The catalyst for this incident was from the previous season when Fitzpatrick sledged Kearns without mercy, telling him to "Go home to your Mummy".[ citation needed ] [4] Mr Kearns has subsequently stated that Mr Fitzpatrick was one of the toughest opponents he played against and that they have subsequently developed a close friendship.

He was a member of Australia's Rugby World Cup-winning teams of 1991 and 1999. Although he was injured midway through the 1999 tournament he is one of only 43 players who have won multiple Rugby World Cups.

In October 2005 in the driveway of his home, Kearns accidentally ran over his 19-month-old daughter, Andie. [5] After a long hospital stay, his daughter made a full recovery. Kearns later launched a driveway safety campaign. [3] [6]

Another of Kearns' daughters, Matilda "Tilly" Kearns, is a member of the Australian women's national water polo team competing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. [7]

Honours

Kearns was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2017 for significant service to the community through support for charitable organisations, to business, and to rugby union at the elite level. [8]

He was inducted into the Australian Rugby Hall of Fame in 2018. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australia national rugby union team</span> Australia national rugby union team

The Australia national rugby union team, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of Australia. The team first played at Sydney in 1899, winning their first test match against the touring British Isles team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Gregan</span> Australian rugby union player

George Musarurwa Gregan AM is a retired Australian rugby union player, and is currently Australia's most capped international player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Burke (rugby union, born 1973)</span> Rugby player

Matthew Coleman Burke is an Australian former international rugby union player and sport presenter on Sydney's 10 News First.

John Eales is an Australian former rugby union player and the most successful captain in the history of Australian rugby. In 1999, he became one of the first players to win multiple Rugby World Cups.

Chris Whitaker is an Australian professional rugby union coach and former international player. As of 2018 he is head coach of the Sydney Rays in Australia's National Rugby Championship, and the interim head coach of Super Rugby side the New South Wales Waratahs,

Nicholas Campbell Farr-Jones AM is a former Australian rugby union footballer. His position was scrum-half. Farr-Jones debuted for the Australia national rugby union team during the 1984 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland, during which the Australia won the grand slam of rugby union when they defeated all four Home Nations. He was voted "Player of the Series" for the 1986 Australia rugby union tour of New Zealand, during which Australia became the sixth team in history to win a rugby Test series in New Zealand. He was appointed captain of the Wallabies prior to the commencement of their 1988 international season. He is probably best remembered for captaining Australia to their the 1991 Rugby World Cup. Farr-Jones retired as captain of Australia after a victory against South Africa in 1992 and temporarily ceased playing international rugby. He came out of retirement in 1993 for the single Bledisloe Cup Test and a three-Test home series against South Africa, following which he retired from international rugby. He now works at Taurus Funds Management, appears as a TV rugby commentator on UK Sky Sports and is the chairman of the New South Wales Rugby Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugby union in Australia</span>

Rugby union in Australia has a history of organised competition dating back to the late 1860s. Although traditionally most popular in Australia's rugby football strongholds of New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT, it is played throughout the nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Ashley-Cooper</span> Australian rugby union player

Adam Ashley-Cooper is a former Australian rugby union player who last played for the LA Giltinis of Major League Rugby (MLR). He has won 121 caps for Australia, the third most of any Australia player at the time of his retirement. His nickname is "Mr. Versatile". He is currently the senior assistant coach for backs with the LA Giltinis.

Ewen James Andrew McKenzie is an Australian professional rugby union coach and a former international rugby player. He played for Australia's World Cup winning team in 1991 and earned 51 caps for the Wallabies during his test career. McKenzie was head coach of the Australian team from 2013 to 2014. He has coached in both southern and northern hemispheres, in Super Rugby for the Waratahs and Reds, and in France at Top 14 side Stade Français. During his playing days he was a prop and, in a representative career spanning from 1987 to 1997, he played nine seasons for the NSW Waratahs and two for the ACT Brumbies.

William George "Twit" Tasker was an Australian World War I soldier who had been a national representative rugby union player making six Test appearances for the Wallabies.

Colin "Col" Windon, was a rugby union player and soldier who captained Australia – the Wallabies – in two Test matches in 1951. By age 18 Windon was playing at flanker for his club Randwick in Sydney's Shute Shield. After serving with the Second Australian Imperial Force in the Pacific Theatre during the Second World War, Windon resumed his rugby career in 1946. He was first selected for Australia for their tour of New Zealand that year. Despite the Wallabies losing both their Tests on tour, Windon impressed with his play.

Richard Murray Tooth was an Australian rugby union footballer of the 1950s. He represented the Wallabies in ten Test matches and nineteen total appearances and was Australian captain on two occasions. He resided at St Andrew's College while studying at Sydney University. His club rugby was played with the Sydney University Football Club and later with Randwick in the Shute Shield. He practised as an orthopaedic surgeon and was a sports medicine pioneer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Foley</span> Australian rugby player of Irish descent

Bernard Foley is an Australian rugby player of Irish descent. He plays professionally for the Australia national rugby team and the New South Wales Waratahs in Super Rugby. He can cover both fullback and fly-half as well as inside centre. Foley has earned the nickname "the iceman" after successful game winning penalty goals, 2 August 2014, 18 October 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damien Fitzpatrick</span> Rugby player

Damien Nicholas Fitzpatrick is an Australia professional rugby union player of Irish descent. He currently plays for the New South Wales Waratahs in Super Rugby. He was captain of the Sydney Rays team in the National Rugby Championship in 2017 and 2018. His position of choice is Hooker.

Australia and Fiji have played each other a total of twenty-three times, of which Australia has won the most with nineteen, including three at the Rugby World Cup's (RWC) of 2007, 2015 and 2019. Fiji won two of the first four matches between the two teams, however did not beat Australia again until 2023, at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

John Egan Moulton was an Australian medical practitioner. He was Chairman of the NSW Institute of Sports Medicine at Concord Hospital, team doctor of the Australian national rugby union team and Honorary Secretary of the Council of Newington College. He was a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and Edinburgh and a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. Moulton was honoured by his nation with the award of the Medal of the Order of Australia for his "service to surgery and medical education particularly in relation to sports medicine."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eto Nabuli</span> Fiji & Australia international rugby footballer

Etonia Nabuli is a Fijian-born Australian professional rugby footballer who plays rugby league for the Wentworthville Magpies in the Ron Massey Cup. He previously played rugby league for the St. George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League as a wing, also representing Fiji. He also played rugby union for the Queensland Reds.

Greg Growden was an Australian sports journalist, author and biographer.

References

  1. http://www.nswrugby.com.au/MediaExtranet/News/2008/February/Freiersettocreatehistory.aspx%5B%5D
  2. Register of Past Students 1863–1998. Sydney: Newington College. 1999. p. 105.
  3. 1 2 Schmidt, Lucinda (19 May 2010). "Profile - Phil Kearns". The Sydney Morning Herald .
  4. Phil Kearns, University of Queensland Rugby Club, season launch breakfast, 13 March 2020.
  5. "Daughter in critical condition after accident". The Sydney Morning Herald . AAP. 23 October 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  6. Driveway safety a priority, says Kearns Archived 30 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine , Channel 9 news, 12 Jan 2006
  7. "Get to know Aussie Stinger Tilly Kearns – Delfina Sport".
  8. It's an Honour Retrieved 11 May 2018
  9. "David Pocock wins 2018 John Eales Medal in a landslide". The Sydney Morning Herald. 19 October 2018. Archived from the original on 22 October 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
Sporting positions
Preceded by Australian national rugby union captain
1992-1995
Succeeded by