NZ shearers bounce back in UK

Rowland Smith and fellow Hawke's Bay shearer Dion King have bounced back from defeats on their UK tour. File photo / Glenn Taylor

New Zealand shearers had major success in Britain overnight with a win over England in a test match and yet another victory for veteran David Fagan.

The New Zealand team of Hawke's Bay-based shearers Dion King and Rowland Smith bounced-back from defeats in the first three tests of a UK tour to beat the English team of Adam Berry and first-time international Chris Hird by a comfortable margin of eight-and-a-half points at the Lakeland Shears at Cockermouth, Cumbria.

Fagan's triumph in the Lakelands Open final came just three months short of his 50th birthday and 28 years since he first plundered the British competition scene with four wins.

Fagan finished the 20-sheep final in 13min 37sec, more than 20 seconds ahead of the 24-year-old Smith, whom he ultimately beat by just 0.2pts when all points were counted.

The victory showed Fagan to be in imposing form ahead of this week's defence of the Open title at the Great Yorkshire Show, where he claimed his 600th open-final win 12 months ago.

- NZPA