Three World Champions in a four-man final in Wairoa, plus a rare tie, separated by quality points. Winner Gavin Mutch (left), runner-up Rowland Smith, third-place John Kirkpatrick, and Tama Niania, fourth. Photo / SSNZ
Three World Champions in a four-man final in Wairoa, plus a rare tie, separated by quality points. Winner Gavin Mutch (left), runner-up Rowland Smith, third-place John Kirkpatrick, and Tama Niania, fourth. Photo / SSNZ
Quality points were used to break a rare shearing final tie featuring two former World and Golden Shears Champions at the Wairoa A and P Show.
After one of the faster 20-sheep finals, 2012 World Champion Gavin Mutch and 2014 World Champion and multiple Golden Shears winner Rowland Smith, were tied on 57.35pts
Of the two Hawke’s Bay-based shearers, Smith was first to finish, in 16min 34sec, 11 seconds quicker than Mutch.
However, Mutch matched the 0.55-time points deficit with the better quality in judging - both on the shearing board, and in the pens outside.
It’s thought to have been the first such tie since the Southern Shears in Gore in February 2007, when Taranaki champion Paul Avery pipped Hawke’s Bay gun Dion King in similar circumstances. There have been more than 900 open shearing finals in New Zealand in the meantime.
Listen to Rowena Duncum interview Rowland Smith on The Country below:
Third on Saturday was 2017 World Champion and four-times Golden Shears winner John Kirkpatrick, with 57.75pts, after also shearing the 20 sheep in under 17 minutes.
All four had previously won the Wairoa title, with Niania’s win, in 2012 remaining his only open final win.
The senior final was won by Clay Harris, of Piopio, the intermediate by local Bruce Grace, and the junior by Nuhaka’s Cheyden Winiana, who has dominated the grade from East Cape to Wairarapa this season with three wins and two other finals placings.
The competitions attracted 79 shearers, across six grades, which included veterans and novice shearers. Particularly promising were the 19 in the intermediate grade and 21 juniors.
Attendance at the Wairoa show, which features both dog trials and rodeo close by the shearing, stunned organisers, who expected some improved interest after two years of pandemic-era cancellations.
What they did not expect was what some long-time showgoers said could have been the best attendance in 30 years, with extra parking space needed and still filled.
It happened despite cloudy and rain-threatening conditions all day, the precipitation finally starting just after the open final.
Wairoa Shears organiser Paul Swann (right) shears to third place in the senior final. At left is runner-up Daniel Biggs, of Mangamahu, The event was won by Clay Harris, of Piopio. Photo / SSNZ
Results from the Wairoa A and P Show shearing championships on Saturday, January 21, 2023:
Open final (20 sheep): Gavin Mutch (Scotland/Dannevirke) 16min 45sec, 57.35pts, 1; Rowland Smith (Maraekakaho) 16min 34sec, 57.35pts, 2; John Kirkpatrick (Pakipaki) 16min 55sec, 57.75pts, 3; Tama Niania (Gisborne) 17min 47sec, 59pts, 4.
Senior final (10 sheep): Clay Harris (Piopio) 10min 29sec, 39.75pts, 1; Daniel Biggs (Mangamahu) 11min 4sec, 41.2pts, 2; Paul Swann (Wairoa) 11min 4sec, 42.5pts, 3; Emily Te Kapa (Scotland) 12min 28sec, 46.2pts, 4.
Intermediate final (6 sheep): Bruce Grace (Wairoa) 8min 2sec, 31.1pts, 1; Dylan Young (Gisborne) 7min 55sec, 31.42pts, 2; Tomos Davies ( Wales) 8min 42sec, 34.43pts, 3; Matthew Cowan (Ireland) 9min 18sec, 35.9pts, 4.
