Shearing: New Zealand Pair Beats England In Great Yorkshire Show Shearing Test Match

New Zealand shearers Toa Henderson and Jack Fagan have continued a down under dominance of England at the Great Yorkshire Show by winning the second test of their 2025 Wools of New Zealand Tour of the UK and France.

With Henderson first to finish the test of 20 swaledale hoggets each, which he shore in 13m 43s in also scoring the best points overall, the pair beat England shearers Nick Greaves and Dean Nelmes by 4.3pts on Wednesday (Thursday morning NZT).

Fagan was also runner-up to Welsh shearer Gethin Lewis in defence of the Great Yorkshire Open title Fagan won last year, when he and Greaves both featured in a test match New Zealand won by just 0.55pts.

Henderson, the Golden Shears and New Zealand Shears Open champion, just a fortnight into his first shearing in the Northern Hemisphere, on his first tour in the New Zealand singlet, and currently a clear leader in the 2026 World Championships New Zealand team selection series back home, was also first to finish the Open final but had to settle for third place overall.

He shore the 20 sheep in 13m 5s, beating Lewis by 16 seconds and also claiming the scalp of 2019 World champion and Welsh gun Richard Jones, whom he beat by almost two minutes.

The test match win followed New Zealand’s loss to Scotland at the Lochearnhead Shears Scottish Black Face championships on June 28, and Henderson, Fagan and team manager and shearing judge Neil Fagan (Jack Fagan’s cousin) now cross the channel for a test against France at Boussac, Central France, on Sunday.

Among other New Zealand shearers at the Great Yorkshire Show, at Harrowgate, was Golden Shears Senior champion Bruce Grace, who just missed a place in the Senior final, and with Paul Hodges, of Geraldine, for a New Zealand selection in an Open/Senior relay, in which they were fourth.

After the test in France, Henderson and Fagan complete their tour with a three-match series against Wales, before heading home for the New Zealand season starting in the South Island in October.

They have also had a good start to the shorter form of competition, with Fagan winning the Dunblane Charity Speed Shear Open title in Scotland last Friday, with Henderson the runner-up.

Results:

International (20 sheep): New Zealand (Toa Henderson 13m 43s, 54.95pts; Jack Fagan 14m 11s, 56.45s) 111.4pts, beat England Nick Greaves 14m 31s, 56.15pts; Dean Nelmes 15m 6s, 59.55pts) 115.7pts.

Great Yorkshire Open Championships final (20 sheep): Gethin Lewis (Wales) 13m 21s, 50.9pts, 1; Jack Fagan (NZ) 13m 40s, 52pts, 2; Toa Henderson (NZ) 13m 5s, 55.2pts, 3; Richard Jones (Wales) 15m 3s, 55.6pts, 4; Nick Greaves (England) 15m 4s, 56.3pts, 5; Stuart Connor (England) 15m 1s, 56.95pts, 6.

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