From left, the New Zealand team of manager Neil Fagan and shearers Toa Henderson and Jack Fagan, and the Welsh team of manager Rhys Davies and shearers Gwion Evans and Llyr Jones. Photo / Shearing Sports NZ
From left, the New Zealand team of manager Neil Fagan and shearers Toa Henderson and Jack Fagan, and the Welsh team of manager Rhys Davies and shearers Gwion Evans and Llyr Jones. Photo / Shearing Sports NZ
Test-match sport with world champions came to one of New Zealand’s smallest communities as the hosts beat Wales by just 1.25 points on Waitangi Day, in the first of three matches in the Wools of New Zealand shearing series.
The match of two shearers per team over 20 lambs eachtook place on the outskirts of the King Country township of Aria (population 240 at the last Census).
It featured Welsh gun Gwion Evans, preparing for next month’s defence in Masterton of the Golden Shears World Championships title he won in Scotland in 2023.
But first blood went to Northland shearer Toa Henderson, who won the Royal Welsh Open last July during a UK tour in which he and teammate Jack Fagan, of Te Kuiti, were beaten 2-1 by Wales.
At the Aria Waitangi Day Sports, with a place already secured for the World Championships on March 4-7, Henderson shore the 20 lambs in 14min 40sec.
This was 22 seconds quicker than next-man-off Fagan, 49 seconds clear of first Welshman Llyr Jones, and more than two minutes quicker than Evans, who finished in 16m 44s.
However, the Welsh had the better quality, with Evans knocking back the time-points deficit with a quality rating more than two points better than either man in the black singlets.
The second test is at the Franklin show’s Counties Shears on February 22, and the third at the Taumarunui Shears on February 27.
It was a big day for Henderson, who also won the Aria Open final, shearing 20 ewes in 14m 58s and winning by 2.5 points from runner-up Jones, scoring his best individual results in a New Zealand show open final.
There were 122 competitors at the Aria Waitangi Day Sports.
The senior and junior finals went to competitors from overseas, Callum Bosley (England) and Sean Dunne (Ireland), respectively.
A grandstand view of the first test of the Wools of New Zealand Shearing Series between New Zealand and Wales, at the Aria Waitangi Day Sports. Photo / Shearing Sports NZ
Zakaia Lewis, of Gisborne and Dannevirke, won the intermediate final.
In the woolhandling, Taumarunui’s Vinniye Phillips beat reigning New Zealand Shears open champion Keryn Herbert, of Te Kuiti, to win the open final.
Senior honours went to Chloe Henderson, of Feilding.
The junior final was won by Herbert’s daughter, Ngahuia Salmond, who also won Saturday’s junior shearing final at the Rangitīkei Shearing Sports in Marton.
The novice woolhandling final was won by Phillips’ niece, Phaeton-Ray Phillips.
