Aussies hammer Kiwis in Christchurch shears tests

MEDIA RELEASE
On behalf of Shearing Sports New Zealand
November 12, 2011

Aussies hammer Kiwis in Christchurch shears tests

Led by former World champion Shannon Warnest, the Australian shearing and woolhandling team scored a series of stunning victories at the New Zealand Corriedale Championships in Christchurch yesterday.

Warnest won the championships Open machine shearing final, the first overseas shearer to win in the event's 52 years.

Finishing last off the board in a six-man final over 10 sheep, a minute and 45 seconds behind first-man off and Southland veteran Darin Forde, and 39 seconds behind fifth-man-off Nathan Stratford, also from Southland, Warnest's superior quality won the day in a close finish with 0.709pts covering the first three placings.

The 37-year-old South Australian father-of-two, who farms and owns a hotel as well as shearing and instructing, also led teammates Nathan Mealey, also from SA, and West Australian Mark Buscomb, to an Australian record third win in a row over New Zealand in transtasman tests, beating New Zealanders John Kirkpatrick, of Napier, Tony Coster, of Rakaia, and Colin O'Neill, of Alexandra.

To add to the Kiwis' demise, the Australian woolhandling team of Rachel Hutchison, NSW, and Aroha Garvin, West est Australia, scored Australia's first win over New Zealand in a woolhandling test in New Zealand since 1999, beating Keryn Herbert, of Te Kuiti, and Veronica (Ronnie) Goss, of Apiti,

The only glory for New Zealand in a series of events in which the black-singlet was expected to rule supreme was a win in the blades shearing test, and a hometown victory for Huia Whyte-Puna in the Open woolhandling final, in which Australian team member Aroha Garvin was third.

Warnest had not only never won a title in New Zealand but had almost never reached a final in this country.

"It's a bit hard to believe," he said today. "Crikey, mate, I go to the Goldies in Masterton (the Golden Shears) and I'm happy to make the Top 30."

Yesterday's event was just as tough a field, its strength mustered by being the compulsory first round a series to pick two New Zealand machine shearing representatives for the World Championships in Masterton in March, for which Warnest is now a clear contender to again shatter the Kiwi dreams.

Several highly-rated competitors were eliminated in yesterday's semi-finals, including favourite, defending champion, and reigning Golden Shears champion Kirkpatrick, Hawke's Bay-based Northland shearer and New Zealand Open champion Rowland Smith, five-times World champion David Fagan, of Te Kuiti, and current World champion Cam Ferguson, of Waipawa.

The only North Island qualifier was Smith's brother, Matthew, tailing the field with Stratford claiming second place, West Coast shearer Jason Win was third, Coster fourth, and Forde fifth.

Most of the top New Zealand shearers are competing at the Central Hawke's Bay Shears today in Waipukurau, the second round of the selection series.
Separate series' are being run to find New Zealand's woolhandling and blades shearing representatives.

ENDS

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