Shearing
New Zealand shearers have again mastered the best of the Northern Hemisphere by winning a test and the major individual title in the second competition of their 2013 Elders Primary Wool UK Tour.
Shearing in the only herdwick breed competition in the world at the Lakelands Shears in Cockermouth, Cumbria, Rowland Smith of Hastings, and Tony Coster of Rakaia, beat the England team of Cumbrian shearers Adam Berry and Mark Fox by 3.65 points.
Smith, winner of the Golden Shears open title in Masterton last year, also won the Lakelands Open final, denying yet another win in the event for New Zealand icon and defending champion David Fagan, who had to settle for second place, while Coster was fourth in his first final in the UK.
Berry, now a familiar face also in New Zealand each summer, was first to finish the 20 sheep in the international, taking 14m 24s and beating next-man-off and Hawke's Bay shearer Smith by 8s. A sheep behind, Coster, of Rakaia, beat Fox by 5s.