Kiwi shearers back to winning form for England test

MEDIA RELEASE

On behalf of Shearing Sports New Zealand

July 7, 2013

Kiwi shearers back to winning form for England test

New Zealand shearers have again mastered the best of the Northern Hemisphere by winning a test and the major individual title in the second competition of their 2013 Elders Primary Wool UK Tour.

Shearing in the only herdwick breed competition in the World at the Lakelands Shears in Cockermouth, Cumbria, Rowland Smith, of Hastings, and Tony Coster, of Rakaia, beat the England team of Cumbrian shearers Adam Berry and Mark Fox by 3.65pts.

Smith also won the Lakelands Open final, denying yet another win in the event for New Zealand icon and defending champion David Fagan, who had to settle for second place, while Coster, was fourth in his first final in the UK.

Berry, now a familiar face also in New Zealand each summer, was first to finish the 20 sheep in the international, taking 14min 24sec and beating next-man-off and Hawke’s Bay shearer Smith by 8 seconds. A sheep behind, Coster, of Rakaia, beat Fox by 5 seconds.

Coster, 46 and in only his second competition in the Northern Hemisphere, put in a tremendous effort with his quality on the board, carding just 11 penalty strokes, for the best individual pen points of 0.55, while Smith scored best in the pen judging.

In the Open final, Te Kuiti gun Fagan, 51 and competing as an independent, won the race to the finish, taking 13min 59sec and heading Smith by 4 seconds. Smith’s superior quality, including again the best pen judging points, was enough to claim the title.

Lone English finalist Berry was third, and Coster was fourth, again averaging less than a penalty per sheep on the board, and Falkland Islands shearer Lee Molkenbuhr was fifth.

A New Zealand selection also won an international relay, while Northland shearer Brya Harrison was third in the Lakelands junior final.

Smith and Coster, beaten by Scotland in the first match of an 8-test tour, meet England again at the Great Yorkshire Show later this week.

Results:

International (20 sheep): New Zealand 107.75pts (Rowland Smith 14min 32sec, 52.05pts; Tony Coster 15min 16sec, 55.7pts) beat England 111.1pts (Adam Berry 14min 24sec, 52.8pts; Mark Fox 15min 21sec, 58.3pts).

Lakeland Shears Open final (20 sheep): Rowland Smith (Hastings, NZ) 14min 3sec, 49.8pts, 1; David Fagan (Te Kuiti, NZ) 13min 59sec, 51.4pts, 2; Adam Berry (Kendal, England) 14min, 53.15pts, 3; Tony Coster (Rakaia, NZ) 15min 55sec, 56.1pts, 4; Lee Molkenbuhr (Stanley, Falkland Is) 16min 1sec, 58.35pts, 5.

ENDS

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