Big shears matches for Kiwi heartland

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

The tours, which open with a Welsh double-header next week - a provincial match and a test in Southland - will include a unique three-way match involving all three teams during the Golden Shears international championships in Masterton on March 3-5.

The UK team's other two tests will be at the Southland Shears and New Zealand Crossbred Lambshearing Championships at Winton on January 15, and Southern Shears at Gore on February 18-19, while the Welsh team's other two tests will be at the Waimarino Shears in Raetihi on March 19 and at the New Zealand Championships in Te Kuiti on March 31-April 2.

The Welsh team will be headed by Gareth Daniel, who was third to Ferguson and Fagan at the World championships, with his teammate expected to be Champion Shearer of Wales runner-up Hywel Jones, while the UK team will be headed by Taranaki-based Scotsman and World Championships fifth placegetter Gavin Mutch, joined by Northern Ireland's Ian Montgomery, who won the Golden Shears junior final in Masterton in 2003.

Shearing Sports New Zealand chairman John Fagan said that with matches against regional selections also at Lumsden, Reefton, Waitomo and Stratford small towns had great opportunities to see top international competition and also 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."

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

January 14 (Friday) UK v Norther 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

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