All-Access. All in one subscription.
Subscribe now

All-Access + BusinessDesk Weekly

Pay just
$10
$2
per week
Subscribe now
BEST VALUE

All-Access + BusinessDesk Annual

Pay just
$349
$49
per year
Subscribe now
Learn more
30
Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate / Sport

Shearing: Toa Henderson and Jack Fagan gear up for Lochearnhead Shears

Doug Laing
By Doug Laing
Multimedia Journalist·The Country·
25 Jun, 2025 10:36 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Scottish blackface sheep will be unfamiliar to the Kiwi shearing team. Photo / Mark Barrowcliffe
Scottish blackface sheep will be unfamiliar to the Kiwi shearing team. Photo / Mark Barrowcliffe

Scottish blackface sheep will be unfamiliar to the Kiwi shearing team. Photo / Mark Barrowcliffe

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

New Zealand shearers Toa Henderson and Jack Fagan have arrived in the UK, ready for the first of six test matches in a four-nations tour starting at the Lochearnhead Shears in Scotland this weekend.

Northland shearer Henderson, representing New Zealand for the first time, claimed his place after winning the New Zealand Open Shearing Championship.

Fagan, who was in the Wools of New Zealand tour team last year, retained his position as third placegetter in the New Zealand Shears Circuit final, both events being shorn in Te Kūiti in April.

In a twist, circuit winner, Southern Hawke’s Bay-based shearer and farmer Gavin Mutch, is expected to return to his native Scotland team after winning the Royal Highland Open title and finishing second in the Scottish National Circuit final last weekend.

The Kiwis, managed by King Country competitions judge Neil Fagan, face not only the challenge of a tough Scotland team on its home stage and gearing-up for the 2026 Golden Shears World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships in Masterton, but also the unfamiliarity with the Lochearnhead Shears’ Scottish blackface sheep, known as the “blackies”.

All-Access. All in one subscription.
Subscribe now

All-Access + BusinessDesk Weekly

Pay just
$10
$2
per week
Subscribe now
BEST VALUE

All-Access + BusinessDesk Annual

Pay just
$349
$49
per year
Subscribe now
Learn more
30
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The challenge has been met successfully by New Zealand shearers in the past, notably last year when Wairarapa shearer David Buick won the open final; however, no New Zealand team has beaten Scotland in any of the mainly annual test matches at Lochearnhead since 2016.

Read more shearing and woolhandling stories here.

Following the test on Saturday, Henderson and Fagan will shear against England at the Great Yorkshire Show at Harrogate on July 9, France at the French Shears in Boussac on July 13, and then a three-match series against Wales, with tests at Cothi on July 19, the Royal Welsh Show on July 23 and the Corwen Shears on July 26.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The 35-year-old Henderson is determined to make sure his first international bid is a success, taking one step at a time, buoyed by the support of his Kaiwaka community, especially the rugby club, where he has played as a flanker in the past, and his father, Mike, has been a coach.

His 2025 Golden Shears and New Zealand championships open finals double was celebrated at a function put on by the club in his honour last month.

Henderson is the front-runner for one of the two World Championships’ New Zealand machine-shearing berths with wins in the first three events in the selection series, but that is all 8-9 months away.

Discover more

  • A Kiwi, an Englishman and a Scot fly the Bay's shearing flag
  • School's shearing and woolhandling contest a hit
  • Kiwi sets world shearing record in historic South Africa feat
  • Jack Fagan joins NZ shearing tour team

Having spent several years’ shearing Merinos in Australia he is familiar with some of the hardest animals in the industry, but was yet to meet a “blackie”.

Last week, preparing for his first trip to the Northern Hemisphere, he was looking forward to the confrontation and just getting into the swing of the competitions again.

“There hasn’t been a lot of shearing [in Northland],” he said.

“It’s been wet up here, but it’s still enough to pay the bills.

“I am looking forward to getting back into the show shearing side of things”.

As for the “blackies”, he added:

“Yeah, I’ve heard about them.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

“Well, I’ve got three days to sort them out.”

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Northern Advocate

'Boxing saved my life': Kiwi champ set for historic showdown

Northern Advocate

Former Black Fern battles stage 4 cancer

Northern Advocate

Northland shearer Toa Henderson wins big at Royal Welsh Show


Sponsored

Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Recommended for you

MetService warns of overnight snow on Napier-Taupō Rd
Hawkes Bay Today

MetService warns of overnight snow on Napier-Taupō Rd

Two jailed in Comancheros retribution plot aimed at ex-member's family
Crime

Two jailed in Comancheros retribution plot aimed at ex-member's family

Watch: Govt releases alarmingly poor literacy data for Kiwi kids as ‘Writing Action Plan’ launched
Politics

Watch: Govt releases alarmingly poor literacy data for Kiwi kids as ‘Writing Action Plan’ launched

Auckland prisoner critically injured after attack involving three other inmates
New Zealand

Auckland prisoner critically injured after attack involving three other inmates

Putin and Zelenskyy set for peace summit after Trump talks
World

Putin and Zelenskyy set for peace summit after Trump talks

Abbott tipped as possible buyer of Synlait's Pōkeno factory
Agribusiness

Abbott tipped as possible buyer of Synlait's Pōkeno factory



Latest from Sport

'Boxing saved my life': Kiwi champ set for historic showdown
Northern Advocate

'Boxing saved my life': Kiwi champ set for historic showdown

Lani Daniels will fight Claressa Shields in Detroit on July 27 (NZT).

26 Jul 12:00 AM
Former Black Fern battles stage 4 cancer
Northern Advocate

Former Black Fern battles stage 4 cancer

24 Jul 09:59 PM
Northland shearer Toa Henderson wins big at Royal Welsh Show
Northern Advocate

Northland shearer Toa Henderson wins big at Royal Welsh Show

23 Jul 11:39 PM


Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet
Sponsored

Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet

10 Aug 09:12 PM

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
All-Access. All in one subscription.
Subscribe now

All-Access + BusinessDesk Weekly

Pay just
$10
$2
per week
Subscribe now
BEST VALUE

All-Access + BusinessDesk Annual

Pay just
$349
$49
per year
Subscribe now
Learn more
30
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search