An Irish shearer who set a lamb-shearing record in New Zealand has soared into contention for this week's world championships just a few hundred kilometres from his home town, despite never having shorn in a world final.
Ivan Scott, 33, who has based himself in New Zealand for several months each year since 2000, won Sunday's 20-sheep Connacht Spring Show open final, beating everyone else in a field of key world title hopefuls by at least a sheep.
They included New Zealand and Masterton Golden Shears stars Rowland Smith and John Kirkpatrick, and NZ-based Scotsman Gavin Mutch, won who the world open title in Masterton two years ago.
In a spectacular display of speed, Scott was in charge almost from the start of the 20-sheep final which he finished in 16min 21s - almost a minute before Mutch, the next to finish. While all but Robinson had better quality points, Scott had done enough to still win by a comfortable 1.65 points from runner-up Smith, the winner of the Masterton Golden Shears and New Zealand championships open finals for the past two years.
It was Scott's third Connacht win in five years, although he was second last year when Robinson scored the biggest win of his short open-class career.