NZ shearers claim 2-0 series win over England

July 13, 2017

NZ shearers claim 2-0 series win over England

The New Zealand shearing team has completed a 2-0 series win over England with victory in the second match at the Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate early today(NZ Ttime).

Continuing from a first-test win at the Lakeland Shears in Cumbria at the weekend, the CP Wool New Zealand team of new World champion John Kirkpatrick and 2014 champion Rowland Smith, both of Hawke’s Bay, beat the England team of Adam Berry and Antony Rooke by 2.1pts.

Berry however claimed uindividual honours, his fastest time enabling him to head-off Smith by just 0.05pts, the black-singlet pair effectively winning the match on better quality.

But all four in the test match had to doff their hats to Smith’s brother, Cornwall farmer and World Record-holding shearer Matthew Smith, who won the six-man Great Yorkshire Show All-Nations Open final.

Shearing the fastest time of 14min 9sec for the 20 sheep Matthew Smith headed a quinella for the Smith brothers, who are from Ruawai in Northland but have based much of their shearing in Hawke’s Bay.

Matthew Smith beat Welsh shearer Gareth Daniel off the board by 13 seconds, and Rowland Smith by about a full sheep and a final margin of one point on the scoreboard. Berry was third and Kirkpatrick fourth.

The performances extended New Zealand’s good record at Harrogate, where the Kiwis also beat England last year, when Kirkpatrick also won the Great Yorkshire final.

The test was the third of seven on the Shearing Sports New Zealand CP Wool UK tour, the first having ended in a narrow defeat by Scotland at the Lochearnhead Shears on July 1.

With a 2-1 tour record, the Kiwis now have a competition break before a four-test series against Wales starting at Cothi on July 21 and ending at Corwen eight days later.

The remaining tests will sandwich Smith’s July 24 bid on the World eight-hour strongwool ewes record of 605, at Trefranck Farm, where Matthew Smith and his wife farm near St Clether, Cornwall, and where

Matthew Smith shore a nine-hour record of 731 in July last year.

Results:

CP Wool New Zeakland team tour test match (20 sheep) New Zealand 103.4pts (Rowland Smith 13min 36sec, 50pts; John Kirkpatrick 14min 28sec, 53.4pts) beat England 105.5pts (Adam Berry 13min 21sec, 49.95pts; Antony Rooke 14min 22sec, 55.55pts). New Zealand won the series against England 2-0.

Great Yorkshire Show All Nations Open final (20 sheep): Matthew Smith (Ruawai NZ/St Clether England) 14min 9sec, 56.95pts, 1; Rowland Smith (New Zealand) 14min 49sec, 57.95pts, 2; Adam Berry (England) 14min 53sec, 58.65pts, 3; John Kirkpatrick (New Zealand) 15min 11sec, 58.85pts, 4; Antony Rooke (England) 15min 20sec, 59.1pts, 5; Gareth Daniel (Wales) 14min 22sec, 61.3pts, 6.

ENDS

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