Kiwi shears guns in form for Aussie challenge

New Zealand transtasman series shearing representatives Southland shearers Troy Pyper and Nathan Stratford each wrapped-up their preparation for Friday’s test match in Australia by winning separate competitions almost the length of the South Island apart on Saturday.

From Invercargill but based in Amberley in North Canterbury, Pyper won the 125th Nelson A and P Show’s Open final at Richmond Park on the outskirts of Nelson, while Stratford won the West Otago A and P title about 900km away in Tapanui.

Pyper was in good form to make it two-from-two in the top of the south after a win at the Marlborough show a fortnight earlier. He shore the 20-sheep Nelson final in the fastest time of 19min 19.6sec, a sufficient time-buffer to hold-out the challenge of northeren raider Jack Fagan, of Te Kuiti, who had the best quality points and took second place ahead of defending champion and local Tasman region hope travers Baigent.

Stratford finished the 16-sheep West Otago final about 17 seconds after Mataura shearer Brett Roberts but did have the required advantage on quality points to take the show’s title for a 13th time, with a winning margin of 0.975pts.

Now they come together with Masterton shearer Paerata Abraham for a much tougher assignment in the international in Dubbo, NSW, trying to overcome the mixed bag of strongwool and finewool to bounce back from New Zealand’s defeat at the Golden Shears in Masterton in March to stop Australia from scoring a 5th transtasman match win in a row and a 15th in 18 tests since New Zealand last won one of the annual transtasman tests in Australia in 2010.

At the Nelson show, senior winner Duncan Higgins and Junior winner Alice Watson, also made it two-from-two in the top-of-the-south after winning at their home show in Blenheim, while Kelly Poehls, from Makara but based in Rangiora, had her first Intermediate win.

In the Senior final at Tapanui, 2014 New Zealand Shears Intermediate final 4th-placegetter had his first win since a Junior win at the Otago championships in Balclutha in 2013, and the West Otago Intermediate final provided the 5th win of the season for Brayden Clifford, of Waikaka.

RESULTS from the shearing championships at the 125th Nelson A and P at Richmond Park, Nelson, on Saturday, November 23, 2019:

Open final (20 sheep): Troy Pyper (Amberley) 19min 19.6sec, 67.23pts, 1; Jack Fagan (Te Kuiti) 20min 12.1sec, 68.26pts, 2; Travers Baigent (Wakefield) 19min 31.55sec, 49.38pts, Hugh De Lacy Jnr (Rangiora) 20min 27.05sec, 73.45pts, 4.

Open Plate (10 sheep) Chris Jones (Blenheim) 12min 0.03sec, 46.7pts, 1; Nik Nalder (Takaka) 11min 28.72sec, 47.74pts, 2; Keith Wilson (Tui) 11min 40.78sec, 53.64pts, 3; Frank Bint (Tapawera) 13min 49.85sec, 55.59pts, 4.

Senior final (8 sheep): Duncan Higgins (Blenheim) 11min 4.37sec, 39.97pts, 1; Isaac Duckmanton (Rangiora) 10min 50sec, 42.88pts, 2; Sarah Higgins (Blenheim) 11min 24.09sec, 43.2pts, 3; Lewis Street (Tapawera) 12min 39.25sec, 49.483pts, 4.

Intermediate final (3 sheep): Kelly Poehls (Rangiora) 6min 31.78sec, 28.92pts, 1; Ben Forrester (Rangiora) 5min 47.31sec, 29.7pts, 2; Enda Bradley (Northern Ireland) 5min 56.75sec, 35.84pts, 3; Kimberley Maclean (Motueka) 8min 19.59sec, 37.31pts, 4.

Junior final (2 sheep): Alice Watson (Blenheim) 5min 26.75sec, 26.84pts, 1; Alice Robinson (Nelson) 8min 12.34sec, 43.62pts, 2.

Clean shear (2 sheep): Travers Baigent (Wakefield) 5pts, 1; Hugh De Lacy Jnr (Rangiora) 5.5pts, 2; Jav Fagan (Te Kuiti) 6pts, 3; Chris Jones (Blenheim) 6.5pts, 4.

RESULTS from the West Otago A and P Show Shears at Tapanui on Saturday, November 23, 2019:

Open final (16 sheep): Nathan Stratford (Invercargill) 15min 23.75sec, 49.5pts, 1; Brett Roberts (Mataura) 15min 5.75sec, 50.475pts, 2; Ringakaha Paewai (Gore) 15min 44.53sec, 53.9765pts, 3; Jade Maguire Ratima (Winton) 18min 36.03sec, 62.989pts, 4.

Senior final (10 sheep): Kahn Culshaw (Mataura) 12min 14.4sec, 43.82pts, 1; Jesse Barclay (Mataura) 12min 33.66sec, 45.383pts, 2; Chris Malcolm (Winton) 13min 0.53sec, 46.3265pts, 3; Brandon Maguire Ratima (Winton) 13min 14.65sec, 48.5325pts, 4.

Intermediate (5 sheep): Brayden Clifford (Waikaka) 8min 16sec, 29.8pts, 1; Wayne Malcolm (Winton) 8min 49.32sec, 34.266pts, 2; Brodie Horrell (Gore) 8min 32.44sec, 34.422pts, 3; Jonah Karena-Tutapu (Mataura) 10min 4.4sec, 43.62pts, 4.

ENDS

© Scoop Media