The New Zealand shearing team have again had to bow to Australian supremacy on the western side of the Tasman in losing the first test of the 2017-2018 transtasman series.
Shearing last night on the first day of the Australian National Shearing and Woolhandling Championships in Bendigo, Vic., the Australian team of Shannon Warnest, of Willalooka, S.A., Jason Wingfield, of Cobram., Vic, and Daniel McIntyre, of Glen Innes, NSW, all beat Kiwi shearers John Kirkpatrick, of Napier, Rowland Smith, from Northland and now based at Maraekakaho, near Hastings, and Troy Pyper, of Winton.
Led by Wingfield, shearing the 12 sheep (six merino wethers and six croissbred ewes) in 18 minutes, four minutes ahead of last-men-off Kirkpatrick and Smith, the Australians were the first three to finish, posted the three best sets of shearing board points, and Warnest and McInyre had the two best sets of points in judging in the pens.
Australia thus claimed a win by a wide margin of 43.2pts, bouncing back from defeat at the Golden Shears in Masterton in March but extending to seven the number of Australian home wins since the black singlets last won a test in Australia in 2010.
While Wingfield was first to finish, in his 17th transtasman test, it was McIntyre who claimed the best individual points overall, for the fourth time in his eight consecutive tests. He was just 1.2pts ahead of legendary two-times World champion and Merinos guru Warnest who has shorn 30 transtasman tests, the last 28 in a row since 2004 and including being top individual at least 15 times.
