Golden Shears UK title for Kiwi shears champ

MEDIA RELEASE

On behalf of Shearing Sports New Zealand

June 7, 2011

Golden Shears UK title for Kiwi shears champ

New Zealand shearing champion Rowland Smith has won the British Golden Shears open title by winning a six-man final at the Royal Bath and West Show in England.

The 24-year-old Hawke's Bay-based Northlander claimed the title at Shepton Mallet, Somerset, on Friday, a fortnight after winning the Devon County Open. Norway-based Scotsman Hamish Mitchell was the runner-up, and Smith's older brother, Matthew, finished in third-place.

The championships also provided a major triumph for recently upgraded Te Kuiti teenager Jack Fagan who claimed his first senior grade title, getting the family name onto an honours board which already featured the name of father David Fagan who among more than 600 wins worldwide includes 12 UK Golden Shears open title between 1986 and 2003.

David Fagan was there to watch, and shear, and bowed-out of this year's open event in the semi-finals.

Father and son then crossed the Irish Sea to contest the All Ireland Championships at Castlewarren in County Kilkenny, where both made the finals on Sunday.

David Fagan was sixth in an open final, in pursuit of a title he won seven times from 1995 to 2004. Mitchell claimed victory for the Home Nations and there there was more success for the Smith family, with third brother Doug finishing in fifth place. In the senior final Jack Fagan was runner-up to Irish shearer Jack Robinson, who has shorn the last two New Zealand seasons for Hawke's Bay contractor Kerry Brannigan.

ENDS

© Scoop Media