Win and loss for Kiwi shears team in Australia

MEDIA RELEASE

On behalf of Shearing Sports New Zealand

October 9, 2011

Win and loss for Kiwi shears team in Australia

New Zealand has started its annual home and away transtasman shearing and woolhandling series’ with mixed success at the Royal Show in Perth, West Australia yesterday (Saturday).

The woolhandling team of Gisborne’s Joel Henare and Manawatu veteran Ronnie Goss continued New Zealand’s six-year winning streak in the woolhandling tests, with a comfortable win over Australia, while Henare also won the Australian open woolhandling final.

But it was a different story in the shearing where the Kiwi team of Golden Shears champion John Kirkpatrick, of Napier, and South Island shearers Tony Coster, of Rakaia, and Colin O’Neill, of Alexandra, suffered a heavy defeat in the 50th test against Australia since a formal transtasman series began in 1974.

It was the second loss in a row, with Australia also having won at the Golden Shears in Masterton last March, but New Zealand still holds the upper-hand historically, having won 27 of the shearing tests to Australia’s 23. Woolhandling was not included until 1998, with New Zealand’s advantage now extended to 21 wins to the Australians’ six.

There was some consolation for the black singleted shearers with a New Zealand Merino Shears team of Rakaia shearer Grant Smith and Alexandra’s Charlie O’Neill winning an annual match against West Australia, having the previous weekend won the first Merino Tri-Nations Challenge against Australia and South Africa in Alexandra.

ENDS

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