Kiwi King rules at Game of Thrones site Shane’s Castle

Kiwi King rules at Game of Thrones site Shane’s Castle

Hawke’s Bay shearer Dion King put in an all-conquering performance as the Shearing Sports New Zealand team dominated the NISSA Shears today at Game of Thrones filming site Shane’s Castle Estate in Northern Ireland.

The New Zealand Open champion and Hastings gun King and teammate Tony Coster, of Rakaia, beat the Ulster team of Northern Ireland shearer Jack Robinson and Ivan Scott, from the Republic of Ireland, while King also won the event’s Open championship final and a speedshear.

The test win gave New Zealand a 1-1 record to date on an eight-test UK tour, which opened with a loss to Scotland at Lochearnhead on June 27.

King’s win in the four-man Open final of 16 lambs each was particularly significant, becoming a match-race between the World nine-hour lambshearing record holder and Scott, who holds the eight-hour record.

The 40-year-old King, who set the nine-hour record of 866 in a King Country woolshed in 2007, was first to finish, taking just over nine-and-a-half minutes but did so also with sufficient quality points to guarantee the major prize over Scott, who shore his eight-hour record of 744 near Taupo in 2012.

Robinson claimed third place overall and fourth was Scots speedster Hamish Mitchell, who had dominated affairs in hometown Lochearnhead last month.

There was no rest for the Kiwis who with manager Ronnie King and many other competitors headed immediately back across the Irish Sea for the Lakeland Shears tonight (NZ time) at Cockermouth, Cumbria, where the Kiwis will shear a test against England.

It will be the last test for Coster who is unavailable for the rest of the tour, opening the way for legendary New Zealand shearer David Fagan to make an early return from competition retirement and shear a second test against England at the Great Yorkshire Show on Wednesday, and four tests against Wales at Cothi on Friday, the next day at Lampeter, the Royal Welsh Show on July 22, and at Corwen three days later.

ENDS

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