A close call in Wairoa shearing final

Three World champions in the Wairoa final, Gavin Mutch (left), Rowland Smith and John Kirkpatrick, and fourth placegetter Tama Niania. All four were past winners of the title. Photo / Doug Laing

Quality points were used to break a rare shearing final tie featuring two former World and Golden Shears champions at the Wairoa A and P Show last week.

Locked together after a 20-sheep final were 2012 World champion, Scotland international and now Southern Hawke’s Bay farmer Gavin Mutch and 2014 World champion and Maraekakaho farmer and agricultural contractor Rowland Smith, both on 57.35pts.

Smith was first to finish, in 16min 34sec, 11 seconds quicker than Mutch, who matched the 0.55 time points deficit with the better quality in judging both on the shearing board and in the pens outside – the points that were used to break the tie.

Third was 2017 World champion and Pakipaki shearing contractor John Kirkpatrick, just 0.4pts away.

The overall points tie is thought to have been the first in open competition in New Zealand since the Southern Shears in Gore in February 2007, when Taranaki champion Paul Avery pipped Hawke’s Bay gun Dion King in similar circumstances. There have been more than 900 open shearing finals in New Zealand in the meantime.

It was the of two close finishes for Smith, now facing the heat as favourite to claim one of the two berths in the New Zealand team for this year’s World Championships in Scotland.

At Taihape on Saturday be beat Eketahuna shearer Hemi Braddick by just 0.05pts, with Kirkpatrick again third, and Mutch away for three weeks and claiming a win in a break from training shearers in the US.

Smith, Kirkpatrick and others are expected to be in the fray again this week, with the Dannevirke A and P Show Shears on Friday, the Rangitikei Shearing Sports’ North Island Championships in Marton on Saturday, and the Aria Sports Shears on Waitangi Day, as they build the formlines ahead of the Golden Shears from March 2-4 and the New Zealand Shears four weeks later.

At Wairoa there was also winning form in the intermediate final for Wairoa’s Bruce Grace, who shears for Kirkpatrick, Nuhaka’s Cheyden Winiana, who has dominated the junior grade from East Cape to Wairarapa this season with three wins and two other finals placings.

The Wairoa Shears attracted 79 shearers across six grades, which included veterans and novice shearers. Particularly promising were the 19 in the intermediate grade and 21 juniors.

Results from the Wairoa A and P Show shearing championships on Saturday, January 21, 2023:

Open final (20 sheep): Gavin Mutch (Scotland/Dannevirke) 16min 45sec, 57.35pts, 1; Rowland Smith (Maraekakaho) 16min 34sec, 57.35pts, 2; John Kirkpatrick (Pakipaki) 16min 55sec, 57.75pts, 3; Tama Niania (Gisborne) 17min 47sec, 59pts, 4.

Senior final (10 sheep): Clay Harris (Piopio) 10min 29sec, 39.75pts, 1; Daniel Biggs (Mangamahu) 11min 4sec, 41.2pts, 2; Paul Swann (Wairoa) 11min 4sec, 42.5pts, 3; Emily Te Kapa (Scotland) 12min 28sec, 46.2pts, 4.

Intermediate final (6 sheep): Bruce Grace (Wairoa) 8min 2sec, 31.1pts, 1; Dylan Young (Gisborne) 7min 55sec, 31.42pts, 2; Tomos Davies ( Wales) 8min 42sec, 34.43pts, 3; Matthew Cowan (Ireland) 9min 18sec, 35.9pts, 4.

Junior final (3 sheep): Cheyden Winiana (Nuhaka) 5min 28sec, 25.07pts, 1; Elis Jones (Wales) 6min 23sec, 26.15pts, 2; Coby Lambett (Raupunga) 6min 58sec, 34.23pts, 3; Pat Corrigan (Ireland) 6min 22sec, 37.43pts, 4.

Novice final (1 sheep): Beth Kerley (-) 6min 39sec, 23.95pts, 1; Shawna Swann (Wairoa) 5min 29sec, 32.45pts, 2; Gus Brickell (-) 5min 10sec, 33.5pts, 3; Flynn Broad (-) 4min 21sec, 40.05pts, 4.

Veterans (2 sheep): David Hodge (Te Puke) 3min 36sec, 16.8pts, 1; Pete McCabe (Tauranga) 4min 10sec, 19pts, 2; Mike Winiata (-) 3min 58sec, 20.4pts, 3; Graeme Roadley (Wairoa) 4min 22sec, 22.6pts, 4.