The teams' line-up after the Wools of New Zealand team beat England in a shearing test at the Great Yorkshire Show on July 9: the New Zealand team of Jack Fagan (King Country, left), Toa Henderson (Northland) and manager Neil Fagan, and the England team of Nick Greaves, Dean Nelmes and manager Jason Rangeley. Photo / SSNZ
The teams' line-up after the Wools of New Zealand team beat England in a shearing test at the Great Yorkshire Show on July 9: the New Zealand team of Jack Fagan (King Country, left), Toa Henderson (Northland) and manager Neil Fagan, and the England team of Nick Greaves, Dean Nelmes and manager Jason Rangeley. Photo / SSNZ
New Zealand shearers Toa Henderson and Jack Fagan have continued a Downunder dominance of England at the Great Yorkshire Show by winning the second test of their 2025 Wools of New Zealand Tour of the UK and France.
Northland’s Henderson was first to finish the test of 20 Swaledalehoggets each, which he shore in 13m 43s, also scoring the best points overall.
He and teammate Jack Fagan, from the King Country, beat England shearers Nick Greaves and Dean Nelmes by 4.3pts on Wednesday (Thursday morning NZT).
Fagan was also runner-up to Welsh shearer Gethin Lewis in defence of the Great Yorkshire Open title Fagan won last year, when he and Greaves both featured in a test match New Zealand won by just 0.55pts.
Henderson is the Golden Shears and New Zealand Shears Open champion and just a fortnight into his first shearing in the Northern Hemisphere. It is his first tour in the New Zealand singlet and he is currently a clear leader in the 2026 World Championships New Zealand team selection series back home. He was also first to finish the Open final but had to settle for third place overall.
Northland shearer Toa Henderson at the Great Yorkshire Show, where he was first to finish both events, and was third overall in the show's Open final and teamed with Jack Fagan, of Te Kuiti, as New Zealand beat England in a test match. Photo / SSNZ
He shore the 20 sheep in 13m 5s, beating Lewis by 16 seconds and also claiming the scalp of 2019 world champion and Welsh gun Richard Jones, whom he beat by almost two minutes.
The test match win followed New Zealand’s loss to Scotland at the Lochearnhead Shears Scottish Black Face championships on June 28. Henderson, Fagan and team manager and shearing judge Neil Fagan (Jack Fagan’s cousin) now cross the Channel for a test against France at Boussac in central France on Sunday.
Among other New Zealand shearers at the Great Yorkshire Show, held at Harrowgate, was Golden Shears Senior champion Bruce Grace, from Waitoa, who narrowly missed a place in the Senior final. Grace teamed with Paul Hodges of Geraldine in an Open/Senior relay, where they placed fourth.
The Wools of New Zealand team at the Great Yorkshire Show, where they beat England in a shearing test on July 9: Jack Fagan (left), Neil Fagan (manager) and Toa Henderson. Photo / SSNZ
After the test in France, Henderson and Fagan will complete their tour with a three-match series against Wales before heading home for the New Zealand season, starting in the South Island in October.
The pair have also made a strong start in the shorter form of competition, with Fagan winning the Dunblane Charity Speed Shear Open title in Scotland last Friday and Henderson finishing runner-up.
Results:
International (20 sheep): New Zealand (Toa Henderson 13m 43s, 54.95pts; Jack Fagan 14m 11s, 56.45pts) – 111.4pts beat England (Nick Greaves 14m 31s, 56.15pts; Dean Nelmes 15m 6s, 59.55pts) – 115.7pts
Great Yorkshire Open Championships final (20 sheep):
