New Zealand Corriedale Shearing Championships - Day 2

New Zealand Corriedale Championships senior shearing winner, from Aria, Russell Ratima, pictured when he won the New Zealand Winter Comb title on merinos last month. Photo / Barbara Newton

Caption - Angus Moore (3).JPG Marlborough shearer Angus Moore, who won the New Zealand Corriedale Championships Open shearing title in Christchurch on Saturday, pictured winning his second national shearing circuit title at the Golden Shears in Masterton in March 2020. Photo / Pete Nikolaison

There's Moore to come - just watch this space

Marlborough shearer Angus Moore has picked his moments – even more than he thinks.

After winning the Canterbury Shears’ New Zealand Corriedale Open Championship final in Christchurch on Friday he expressed some surprise when told it was his 19th Open win in the 15 seasons since he graduated after winning the Golden Shears Senior title and five other Senior finals in the 2006-2007 season.

“Wow !” he said back at home base in Seddon. “I didn’t realise it was that many.”

Fact is that raising a family and now running a growing shearing contracting business – including taking over the run of fellow Open shearer Sarah Hewson at the start of September – the 36-year-old’s mind has been on other things for a lot of the career and even the title at Christchurch wasn’t necessarily in the sights.

“It was a little unexpected to do that well,” he said. “I haven't been focusing on it a lot as we have been fairly busy with other stuff.”

Fact is also that when Moore does focus on it, the results come, as highlighted when he won the national shearing circuit in 2012 and 2020 – the first time being the only win of the season and without a single previous A-grade Open win to his name.

He has represented New Zealand in two transtasman tests, in 2012 and 2013, and would have shorn two more had it not been for coronavirus crisis.

But while stacking up wins at smaller A and P show competitions such as Kaikohe, Cheviot, Ellesmere, Flaxbourne, Marlborough, Nelson and Murchison – most recently at Blenheim just six days before the Christchurch win, in a particular commitment to helping keep smaller competitions going - the two circuit wins and now the Canterbury title are his only wins at the Open class’s A-grade level.

He says he’s been “pretty focused” on the circuit in the past, with its variety of wool types, including the corriedales of Christchurch and the merinos of Alexandra, along with the more commonly contest crossbred strongwool of Waimate (longwool), Marton (lambs) and Pahiatua (second-shear).

With staff in the contracting run now over 20 at peak – with what looks like a tourism-class line up of woolsheds from the Clarence River across to St Arnaud, up to Arapawa Island - he decided against contesting the circuit this year, but the form suggests a watch-this-space approach, with Moore being among the many deprived of Golden Shears opportunity when a Covid-19 lockdown caused the late cancellation of Masterton’s big annual event last March.

The ongoing pandemic crisis meant there were a few missing from Christchurch, where the Open heats were the third leg of the circuit, now in its 50th year and known as the PGG Wrightson Vetmed National Shearing Circuit, but it was still as tough as it gets.

Just 14 of the 23 entered in the circuit this year made the trip, but in a field of 25 on the day Moore qualified from the heats in 10th place safely made it through the semi-finals to make the top six, including multiple Canterbury and circuits winners and New Zealand test-match representatives Tony Coster, of Rakaia, and Nathan Stratford, of Invercargill.

With Moore winning by just 0.87 points, Coster was runner-up, Manawatu shearer Aaron Haynes third, reigning circuit champion Leon Samuels, of Invercargill, fourth and Stratford fifth. Sixth place went to Willy McSkimming, now based in Oamaru.

It was one of the fastest 12-sheep final at Christchurch over the years, with Samuels first to finish, in 15min 20.5sec, with Moore next, followed by Haynes and Coster, all under 16 minutes.

Cheviot shearer Troy Pyper won the Canterbury All-Breeds Circuit final for a second time, and Chilean shearer Luis Pincol, a successful lower grades shearer in a New Zealand career now dating back more than six years, won the Open Plate.

The Senior final was a triumph for Russell Ratima, from Aria in the King Country but at the age of 38 having done most of his shearing in Australia.

When he won the New Zealand Winter Comb Senior final on merinos in Waimate last month it was just his fifth competition, and his first win in New Zealand, although he had a win in Queensland “about eight or nine years ago.”

He’d said after his Alexandra win he “didn’t have much confidence” to shear competitions, and in Australia it was also “to far to travel to them.”

In-form competitors Reuben King, of Rangiora, and Josh Devane, of Taihape, won the Intermediate and Junior finals respectively, and World champion blade shearer Allan Oldfield, from Geraldine but now living in Hutt Valley, had his first competition outing of the season to successfully defend the Golden Blades title he won for the first time last year.

The five shearing classes on Friday attracted 59 entries. There were 34 entries in the three woolhandling classes on Thursday.

For Moore, it was, however, all about the crew. Hewson, who won the Intermediate final in 2016, was sixth in Friday's Open Plate, and brother-in-law Josh Quinn and 2019 Junior winner Alice Watson were fifth and sixth respectively in the Senior final.

"A good day for Moore Sheep Shearing all-round," he said.

Results from the Canterbury Shears’ New Zealand Corriedale shearing championships at Christchurch on Friday, November 12, 2021:

Open final (12 sheep): Angus Moore (Seddon) 15min 30.28sec, 55.6pts, 1; Tony Coster (Rakaia) 15min 47.66sec, 56.47pts, 2; Aaron Haynes (Feilding) 15min 42.87sec, 56.81pts, 3; Leon Samuels (Invercargill) 15min 20.5sec, 59.11pts, 4; Nathan Stratford (Invercargill) 16min 1.41sec, 59.4spts, 5; Willy McSkimming (Oamaru) 15min 12.38sec, 63.7pts, 6.

Open Plate (8 sheep): Luis Pincol (Chile) 12min 41.91sec, 49.72pts, 1; David Gordon (Masterton) 12min 24.28sec, 50.96pts, 2; Duncan Leslie (Owaka) 12min 52.94sec, 51.02pts, 3; Lyall Windleburn (Rangiora) 12min 55.16sec, 53.01pts, 4; Toko Hapuku (Methven) 15min 2.35sec, 53.12pts, 5; Sarah Hewson (Blenheim) 13min 32.97sec, 57.27pts, 6.

Senior final (8 sheep): Russell Ratima (Pio Pio) 14min 14.66sec, 57.48pts, 1; Brayden Clifford (Waikaka) 14min 18.56sec, 57.68pts, 2; Taare Edwards (Ashburton) 3; 15min 56.81sec, 57.72pts, 3; Adam Gordon (Masterton) 15min 31.93sec, 58.72pts, 4; Josh Quinn (Seddon) 14min 58.81sec, 65.44pts, 5; Alice Watson (Blenheim) 17min 15.56sec, 65.65pts, 6.

Intermediate final (5 sheep): Reuben King (Rangiora) 13min 34.94sec, 51.15pts, 1; Blake Crooks (Timaru) 12min 42.31sec, 52.12pts, 2; Timo Hicks (Nelson) 13min 28sec, 53.8pts, 3; Chase Rattray (Ashburton) 13min 22.12sec, 62.71pts, 4; Savvy Taitoko (Pio Pio) 71min 7.81sec, 65.99pts, 5; Jzon Brass (Hamilton) 14min 1.22sec, 66.46pts, 6.

Junior final (3 sheep): Josh Devane (Taihape) 9min 41.85sec, 42.43pts, 1; Tyrell Miller 14min 45.62sec, 55.95pts, 2; Emma Martin (Gore) 13min 38sec, 59.57pts, 3; Foonie Waihape (Alexandra) 9min 26.43sec, 61.99pts, 4; Robin Krause (Germany) 14min 62.89sec, 71.91pts, 5; Lydia Thomson (Rangiora) 12min 11.07sec, 74.22pts, 6.

Canterbury All Breeds Circuit (12 sheep): Troy Pyper (Cheviot) 15min 25.06sec, 57.5pts, 1; Willy McSkimming (Oamaru) 15min 19.75sec, 57.57pts, 2; Luis Pincol (Chile) 16min 9.28sec, 57.8pts, 3; Lyall Windleburn (Rangiora) 15min 1.75sec, 58.42pts, 4; Shaun Burgess (Rakaia) 16min 42.44sec, 64.96pts, 5; Dave Brooker 17min 13.47sec, 71.42pts, 6.

Golden Blades (4 sheep): Allan Oldfield (Geraldine) 14min 8.5sec, 47.43pts, 1; Tony Dobbs (Fairlie) 14min 27.28sec, 57.61pts, 2; Tim Hogg (Timaru) 16min 52.37sec, 59.62pts, 3; Phil Oldfield (Geraldine) 15min 25.41sec, 61.52pts, 4; Shaun Burgess (Rakaia) 16min 54.44sec, 122.97pts, 5.

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