MEDIA RELEASE -

January 9, 2011.

Big shears matches for Kiwi heartland

Some of New Zealand's smallest towns will get to see the best shearers in the World as two teams from Britain take-on New Zealand World champion guns Cam Ferguson and David Fagan over the next three months.

The British Isles Shearing Competition Association UK team and the Welsh team will each shear three tests against New Zealand, which won the World teams final in Wales last July, while Ferguson and Fagan were first and second in the individual championship.

The tours, which open with a UK team double-header in Southland this week - a provincial match at the Northern Southland Community Shears in Lumsden on Friday and a test match during the Southland Shears at the Winton A and P Show on Saturday - will include a unique tri-nations match involving all three teams during the Golden Shears international championships in Masterton in March.

The UK team's other test will be at the Southern Shears in Gore next month, while the Welsh team's other two tests will be at the Waimarino Shears in Raetihi in March and the New Zealand Championships in Te Kuiti (see itinerary below).

The UK team is Taranaki-based Scotsman and World Championships fifth-placegetter Gavin Mutch, and Northern Ireland shearer Ian Montgomery, who won the Golden Shears junior final in Masterton in 2003. Both competed at the national lambshearing championships in Raglan on Saturday.

The Welsh team is expected to be headed by Gareth Daniel, who was third to Ferguson and Fagan at the World championships, and Champion Shearer of Wales runner-up Hywel Jones.

Shearing Sports New Zealand chairman John Fagan said that the tests and also matches against regional selections at Lumsden, Reefton, Waitomo and Stratford give smaller communities great opportunities to be involved with international sport and show-off New Zealand's rural heartland on an international stage.

"This is where these men, New Zealanders and shearers from overseas, work and compete, day in and day out, in what is not only one of New Zealand's backbone industries but also an exciting sport," he said. "It's a good opportunity for people in the cities and bigger towns to go out into the country and see these champions."

"It's also important for the sport, to be able to maintain international competition in the season before the next World championships are staged in this country - in Masterton in March 2012."

Recognising the success by Ferguson and Fagan at the World Championships, the Winton A and P Society is making the pair guests of honour at their show next Saturday and in their breaks frm the shearing competition will appear in the Grand Parade and present prizes in other classes around the showgrounds.

The strength of shearing copetition at the show in addition to the test team members will be bolstered further by the return of 2008 World champion team member John Kirkpatrick, the Napier shearer who has dominated the Southland events in recent years. Unbeaten in three competitions this season, including his first national lambshearing title at Raglan on Saturday, he will be chasing his fourth double in the back-to-back events this week, including the national Crossbred lambs title.

The schedule for the Welsh and UK shearing teams' tours is:

January 14 (Friday) UK v Northern Southland Community Shears Selection, at Lumsden
January 15 (Saturday) UK v New Zealand (first test), Southland Shears, at Winton
February 5 (Saturday) UK v Reefton A and P Show Selection, at Reefton
February 18-19 (Fri-Sat) UK v New Zealand (second test), Southern Shears, at Gore
March 3-5(Thurs-Sat) UK v Wales v New Zealand three-way test, Golden Shears, at Masterton.
March 19 (Saturday) Wales v New Zealand (first test), at Raetihi.
March 26 (Saturday) Wales v Waitomo Caves Shears Selection, at Waitomo.
March 27 (Sunday) Wales v Taranaki Shears Selection, at Stratford
Mar 31-Apr 2 (Thurs-Sat) Wales v New Zealand (second test), at Te Kuiti

ends