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

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

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”.

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.

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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.

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.

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.

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