Three In A Row For Tasman-hopping Allan The Shearer

Former World blade shearing champion Allan Oldfield has scored an important third win in a row by claiming another win in the latest leg of a 2026 World championship’s selection series, at the Northern A and P Show in Rangiora on Saturday.

Oldfield, from Geraldine but based in Wellington and Wairarapa (pictured), beat current New Zealand Transtasman series team members Scott McKay and Tony Dobbs in the New Zealand Spring Shears final a fortnight ago in Waimate, and then crossed the Tasman for victory t the Geelong Show in Victoria.

In North Canterbury on Saturday, with McKay and Dobbs away at a Transtasman test in South Australia, Oldfield won by a comfortable 9.12 points from dad and former New Zealand representative Phil Oldfield, who claimed second place despite being last off the board in the four-man final of five sheep each, Allan Oldfield finishing in 13m 43.03s and his father in 16m 5.47s.

Third and fourth respectively were former New Zealand representatives Mike McConnell and Peter Race.

Oldfield won his World title at his first time in the national team in France in 2019, when he and Dobbs also won the teams event.

The pair are all-but assured of selection again, with each having won three events and being comfortably clear in an eight-show series, with two to go at the Ashburton A and P Show next weekend and the Golden Blades at the Royal Show in Christchurch on November 14-15.

In the machine shearing, Invercargill gun Nathan Stratford stopped-in on his way home from Friday’s Great Raihania Shears in Hawke’s Bay to claim his second Open final win of the season, and the 90th of his career, and his first in North Canterbury.

Having finished fourth in Hastings, Stratford won by 0.7pts from Ant Frew, of Pleasant Point.

Third was local Hugh de Lacy, and fourth was Oamaru’s Justin Meikle, who was first to finish, who just pipped de Lacy for fastest time and finished in 11min 34.52sec for the 12 sheep.

Kaiapoi shearer Reuben King, who was No 1-ranked Junior nationally in 2020-2021 with 11 wins, on Saturday had his sixth Senior win, teenager Tye Meikle continued his domination of the lower grades with a second Intermediate win, 2023 Waimate Novice winner Jacob Booth, of Waimate, had his first Junior win, and Gonzalo Olivares, of Chile, won the Intermediate Blades event, beating French shearer Simon Rouanet, who won the equivalent event at Waimate a fortnight earlier.

The shears attracted 44 entries (Open 11, Senior 8, Intermediate 7, Junior 8, Open Blades 6, Intermediate Blades 4).

Results from the Northern A and P Show Shears at Rangiora on Saturday, October 25, 2025:

Open final (12 sheep): Nathan Stratford (Invercargill) 12m 19.16s, 39.71pts, 1; Ant Frew (Pleasant Point) 12m 26.5s, 40.41pts, 2; Hugh de Lacy (Rangiora) 11m 35.22s, 40.76pts, 3; Justin Meikle (Oamaru) 11m 34.5s, 41.06pts, 4.

Senior final (8 sheep): Reuben King (Kaiapoi) 12m 6.72s, 42.21pts, 1; Justin Anderson (Fairlie) 12m 10.09s, 44pts, 2; Nick Owen (Christchurch) 12m 3.59s, 44.55pts, 3; Jean Pierre Bouyer (Hastings) 12m 34.06s, 44.7pts, 4.

Intermediate final (5 sheep): Tye Meikle (Oamaru) 8m 23,59s, 29.38pts, 2; Lachie Cameron (Pohangina) 8m 48.31s, 32.82pts, 2; Isaak Cleland (Oamaru) 7m 48.56s, 33.43ptd, 3; Aaron Christensen (-) 9m 8.28s, 39.41pts, 4.

Junior final (3 sheep): Jacob Booth (Waimate) 8m 0.1s, 31.01pts, 1; Jamys Christian (-) 7m 33.91s, 32.36pts, 2; Trent Alabaster (Taihape) 7m 1.4s, 33.4pts, 3; Tyran Smith (Smith) 7m 25.93s, 38.3pts, 4.

Open Blades final (5 sheep): Allan Oldfield (Geraldine/Lower Hutt) 13m 43.03s, 45.75pts, 1; Phil Oldfield (Geraldine) 16m 5.47s, 54.87pts, 2; Mike McConnell (Christchurch) 14m 18.38s, 55.52pts, 3; Peter Race (Rakaia) 15m 30.87s, 58.74pts, 4.

Intermediate Blades (1 sheep): Gonzalo Olivares (Chile) 7m 1.09s, 38.05pts, 1; Simon Rouanet (France) 7m 8.1s, 46.51pts, 2; Evalyn McGregor-Keith (-) 7m 26.12s, 53.31pts, 3; Levi Beedles (Rangiora) 5m 6.1s, 57.31pts, 4.

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