Another Big Loss For Wales - At Shearing

A small central North Island town with a population of barely 1000 and a grandstand which holds 2-300 people has been the scene of another Welsh test-match sporting demise.

Just 12 hours before their rugby team suffered its most humiliating defeat in 17 consecutive test-match losses, in front of a home crowd in Cardiff, shearers Gethin Lewis and Llyr Jones were beaten by New Zealand guns David Buick and Jack Fagan in a shearing test at the Waimarino Shears in Raetihi, just an hour or so from the sometimes big smoke of Mt Ruapehu.

In the first match of a three-test series, the black-singlet pair won by a comfortable 6..388pts, and the Kiwis are now favourites to win the remaining tests at the Waitomo Caves Sports next Saturday and on the second day of the March 27-29 New Zealand Shears in Te Kuiti.

It was the start of some revenge for Buick and Fagan who were beaten by the same pair last July in Cothi in the first test of a series Wales won 2-1 on their home shearing boards, three months after the Welsh pair scored Wales’ first win in a shearing test in New Zealand, against Mastertoin shearers David Gordon and Paerata Abraham.

But Lewis, who has shorn in Hawke’s Bay each summer down-under for more than a decade, showed the new series is not a forlorn hope for the reds, making all the pace in shearing the 20 sheep in 18m 8.3s, to beat a gaining Buick by just over 14 seconds. Buick’s better quality gave him the individual honours by just 0.291pts.

Fagan and Jones were each well over a sheep behind but Fagan maintained enough control on the quality t beat Jones by more than 6.097pts, most of the team’s eventual winning margin.

It wasn’t the first New Zealand v Wales in Raetihi, with Gordon and Abraham having beaten Lewis and Jones by 6.248pts in the first match of last year’s New Zealand series, and Rowland Smith and Leon Samuels beating a Welsh Development team of Lewis and Dylan Jones in 2023.

It was a big day for the town with 99 shearers competing across the five grades, including 34 in the glamour Open grade, with 97 volunteers helping run the competition held alongside the town’s annual rodeo.

Eketahuna shearer Hemi Braddick had the biggest of his five Open shearing wins when he won the four-man Waimarino final over 20-sheep each, coming out on top in a frenetic finish to pip 0.02 seconds and having the better quality win by 2.401pts, with third place going to Dannevirke-based Scotsman and former World and Golden Shears champion Gavin Mutch, and Hastings shearer Brook Hamertson, nephew of Roeland Smith, still chasing his first Open win.

Braddick knew a “few” names had missed qualifying for the final – including all four who whore in the test, but was a big boost to get an A-grade title ahead of the New Zealand Shears, he said.

It was also a big day for Laura Bradley, also from the Tararua District and who won the both the Waimarino Shears Senior final and the final of the first Te Whiringa Senior Circuit, which carried prizes including a six-week contract working in West Australia.

She has now won 11 Senior finals in 2024-2025, easily a record for a female shearer.

Wairoa shearer Bruce Grace, who won the Golden Shears Senior final two weeks ago, was second in both events on Saturday, despite breaking a tooth off a comb just after a standard change to his second handpiece in the Circuit final.

Both finals were shorn over 12 sheep each in a new challenge for Senior shearers, the circuit of 10 qualifying rounds and a final designed to better prepare them for the challenges of Open-class shearing.

There was a significant surprise in the Intermediate final won by Luke Marsden, who’d never shorn a final, in about a dozen attempts, and who had failed to go past the heats at the Golden Shears.

But the 19-year-old, who grew-up in Middlemarch in Central Otago, now lives in Taumarunui and is currently shearing for Max Pue in Taihape, beat both the winner and runner-up from the big Masterton event, both on time and overall points.

He had responded well to the mentoring from his boss and others around him and it showed in what was a confident performance, and not an unlikely result by the end of the four-man final of six sheep each.

The Junior final provided a 10th win in the grade this season for Jodiesha Kirkpatrick, of Gisborne, and the Novice final was won by Cody Hall, of Taumarunui.

On Saturday night local shearer Chris Dickson won the Waimarino Open Speedshear, having also beaten the top guns in the speedshear at the Golden Shears.

The Waimarino Shears was one of three shearing sports competitions on Saturday, with another 52 shearers competing across four grades at the Methven Lambshears at the Methven A and P Show in Mid-Canterbury and about 20 shearing at the Warkworth A and P Show, the last of the six competitions north of Auckland this season.

RESULTS from the Waimarino Shears at Raetihi on Saturday, March15, 2025:

International (20 sheep): New Zealand (David Buick 18m 22.47s, 64.324pts; Jack Fagan 19m 44.56s, 68.628pts) 132.952pts beat Wales (Gethin Lewis 8m 8.3s, 64.615pts; Llyr Jones 19m 52.5s, 74.725pts) 139.34pts. NZ Lead the series 1-0. The second test is at Waitomo on March 22, and the third test at Te Kuiti on March 28.

Open final (20 sheep): Hemi Braddick (Eketahuna) 16m 48.89s, 58.595pts, 1; Mark Grainger (Te Kuiti) 16m 48.91s, 60.996pts, 2; Gavin Mutch (Scotland/Dannevirke) 18m 56.39s, 62.87pts, 3; Brook Hamerton (Hastings) 18m 32.98s, 63..499pts, 4.

Senior final (12 sheep): Laura Bradley (Papatawa) 12m 52.89s, 46.145pts, 1; Bruce Grace (Wairoa) 13m 14.08s, 48.288pts, 2; Taelor Tarrant (Taumarunui) 12m 17.55s, 48.628pts, 3; Callum Bosley (Cornwall, England) 13m 58.33s, 54.084pts, 4.

Te Whiringa Senior Circuit final (12 sheep): Laura Bradley (Papatawa) 13m 12.64s, 49.382pts, 1; Bruce Grace (Wairoa) 13m 8.25s, 50.646pts, 2; Tommy Stevenson (Ruawai) 13m 44.11s, 53.123pts, 3; Callum Bosley (Cornwall, England) 14m 49.31s, 58.3pts, 4.

Intermediate final (6 sheep): Luke Marsden (Taumarunui) 8m 1.7s, 34.252pts, 1; Kaivah Cooper (Napier) 8m 27.73s, 34.554pts, 2; Ryka Swann (Waiora) 8m 11.61s, 35.248pts, 3; Raniera McDonnell (Raetihi) 7m 47.48s, 38.207pts, 4.

Junior final (4 sheep): Jodiesha Kirkpatrick (Gisborne) 6m 35.36s, 25.018pts, 1; Tiley Norman (Eketahuna) 6m 40.22s, 29.011pts, 2; Kingston Pue (Raetihi) 6m 27.97s, 30.149pts, 3; Waiari Puna (Napier) 7m 4.05s, 31.703pts, 4.

Novice final (2 sheep): Cody Hall (Taumarunui) 6m 36.08s, 25.804pts, 1; Sam Lawson (Ongaonga) 6m 38.77s,30.939pts, 2; Aimee Atkins (Pahiatua) 8, 19.95s, 34.498pts, 3; Shyla Gordon (Masterton) 9m 10.69s 38.035pts, 4.

Golden Shears champion Toa Henderson keeps the faith for the locals in the North

New Golden Shears champion Toa Henderson kept it close to home and had an expected win at the Warkworth A and P Show on Saturday.

It was his fifth win in a row at the show and his 39th in Open finals dating back to 2019 when he scored his first Open win in New Zealand after several years in Australia.

Played to the arena commentary provided by father Mike Henderson, it was also his ninth in 12 finals this season, and his sxith consecutive Saturday triumph dating back to the Otago Shears on February 8.

Less than 40km from home base at Kaiwaka, keeping the faith with the locals in preference to the bigger competition of the Waimarino Shears in the central North Island, he shore the 15 sheep at Warkworth in 13m 59s, finishing 65 seconds quicker and ultimately more than 12 points clear of runner-up and Dargaville shearer Neville Osborne, who won the Warkworth final four times consecutively in 2013-2016, shearing at the show for more than 30 years, including a Senior final win in 1993.

At the last of the six A and P Show shearing competitions north of Auckland this season, Michael Boyd, of Dargaville, won the Senior final by less than a point from Alan Boler, of Wellsford, Liam Smedley, of Whangaroa, stepped-up from a series of second placings to beat Danielle Boyd in the Intermediate final, and new Mahurangi College head girl Tessa Berger, of Ahuroa, won the Junior even, and the Neil Sidwell Memorial Trophy.

RESULTS from the Warkworth A and P Show Shears on Saturday, March 15, 2025:

Open final (15 sheep): Toa Henderson (Kaiwaka) 13m 59s, 49.14pts, 1; Neville Osborne (Dargaville) 15m 4s, 61.49pts, 2; Phil Wedd (Silverdale) 17m 5s, 61.88pts, 3.

Senior final (7 sheep): Michael Boyd (Dargaville) 10m 47s, 37.06pts, 1; Alan Boler (Wellsford) 10m 3s, 37.72pts, 2; Kieran Gillespie (Mangawhai) 12m 11s, 47.98pts, 3.

Intermediate final (4 she4ep): Liam Smedley (Whangaroa) 6m 55s, 32.5pts, 1; Danielle Boyd (Dargaville) 7m 28s, 33,9pts, 2; Shanelle Kemp (Maungaturoto) 8m 3s, 45.9pts, 3.

Junior final (2 sheep): Tessa Berger (Ahuroa) 5m 49s, 28.45pts, 1; Jordan Hilditch (-) 5m 11s, 52.55pts, 2.

More than 50 shearers at Methven A and P Show

Good numbers were a feature of the Methven Lambshears which attracted 52 shearers across four grades to the Methven A and P Show on Saturday.

They included 16 in the Open class, where Rangiora shearer High De Lacy had his first Methven win, denying Pleasant Point shearer Ant Frew a fourth win in the event.

Scoring his third win in successive Saturday, after victory the Amuri A and P Show on March 1 and at Cheviot a week earlier, De Lacy won the race by less than two seconds and with the best points in the pens beat Frew by 1.58pts, with third place in the final of 10 lambs each going to Alex Smith, of Rakaia.

Oamaru shearer and New Zealand Senior crossbred lambs champion John Cherrington claimed his seventh win of the season, a fortnight after finishing second in the Golden Shears Senior final in Masterton, Caleb Brooking, of Mataura, broke through for his first Intermediate final win of the season, and Tye Meikle, of Oamaru, scored his 14th Junior win of the season, a fortnight after just missing out on the big one when second at the Golden Shears.

RESULTS from the Methven Lambshears at the Methven A and P Show on Saturday, March 15, 2025:

Open final (10 lambs): Hugh De Lacy (Rangiora) 10m 14.14s, 35.31pts, 1; Ant Frew (Pleasant Point) 10m 15.87s, 36.89pts, 2; Alex Smith (Rakaia) 10m 45.64s, 38.88pts, 3.

Senior final (5 lambs): John Cherrington (Oamaru) 5m 43.87s, 25.394pts, 1; Zion Smith (Christchurch) 5m 27.93s, 26.397pts, 2; Nick Owen (Christchurch) 5m 28.46s, 26.423pts, 3.

Intermediate final (4 lambs): Caleb Brooking (Mataura) 6m 6.51s, 26.58pts, 1; Bastian Gonzalez (Punta Arenas, Chile) 7m 0.65s, 29.78pts, 2; Lachie Cameron (Pohangina) 7m 7.98s, 32.65pts, 3.

Junior final (3 lambs): Tye Meikle (Oamaru) 4m 52.6s, 17.3pts, 1; Holly Crombie (Rangiora) 6m 25.78s, 26.29pts, 2; Tamati Dennison (Kurow) 5m 55.89s, 29.13pts, 3.

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