NEW Zealand became the first nation to win all three teams titles at the Golden Shears World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships in Masterton NZ last Friday.

Then on Saturday, NZ’s top wool handler Joel Henare, from Gisborne, completed a third teams and individual titles double, and Rowland Smith, of Maraekakaho, claimed a second individual world machine shearing title.

The only event not won by the Kiwis, recoiling from a failure to win any of the events in Scotland in 2023, was the open blade shearing, with South African Bonile Rabela’s successful defending his world title.

Australia’s wool handling team of Racheal Hutchison and Alexander Schoff placed third and Hutchison was fourth in the individual final on Saturday night. South Australian blade shearer Johnathon Dalla and Daniel Rogers placed third in the teams event and Dalla placed fifth in the individual final. South Australian shearer Mitchell Yates from Kimba placed third in the Golden Shears intermediate final.

None of it was easy for the Kiwis, as was shown in the Golden Shears machine shearing team win by Rowland Smith, of Maraekakaho, and Toa Henderson, of Kaiwaka (Northland), winning by just 0.277 points from the England team of Smith’s brother, Matt Smith, a Cornwall farmer, and Nick Greaves, a Devon shearer who works each New Zealand summer for Napier contractor Brendan Mahony.

South Canterbury blades shearers Allan Oldfield and Tony Dobbs won shearing’s version of an All Blacks-Springboks test match with victory by just 1.228 points from South African shearers Bonile Rabela, the reigning individual champion, and Teboho Nyatsa.

In the wool handling teams event, the New Zealand team of Joel Henare and international rookie Marika Braddick, of Eketahuna, the margin was more decisive, with victory by more than 52 points from the New Zealand-based Cook Islands team of Keryn Herbert, of Te Kuiti, and Tina Elers, of Mataura.

A Cook Islands team of Noel Gardiner, of Whanganui, and Max Winders, of Invercargill, won the championships’ first-ever B final, in machine shearing.

The blades final had the near-capacity crowd in Masterton’s War Memorial Stadimu enthralled as Rabele fought back on the last of the six sheep. With the black singlet in front from the start in the six-team contest of six sheep per team, Oldfield mastered the three Perendales, while Nyatsa faced some struggles with one of his sheep.

Dobbs continued the job after the changeover to the three long wool crossbred sheep, and went in for the last sheep about half-a-minute up, but Rabele captivated the crowd as he hit the smooth track down the last side, sometimes as clean as if it was a machine handpiece, and there was less than five seconds in it at the end.

The wool handling was run as a two-heat final, with New Zealand facing the England pair of Jess Parkhouse and 2014 individual champion Hilary Bond-Harding, and the Alexandra mother-and-daughter Gabriela Schmidt-Morrell and Charis Morrell, representing Schmidt-Morrell’s native Switzerland.

In the second, Cook Islands faced challenges from the strong Australian pairing of Racheal Hutchinson and Alexander Schoff. and the Falkland Islands.

Matt Smith set a cracking pace against his brother in the first half of the machine shearing final of 16 sheep per team, and while Henderson worked hard to close the gap in the latter stages there was still about 44 seconds in at the end as England clocked a time of 15min 28.93sec.

But the Kiwis had the better quality and regained a title New Zealand last won in 2017, in Invercargill.

Henderson defends Golden Shears open title

On Saturday night, Northland shearer Toa Henderson successfully defended the Golden Shears open shearing title, and Motueka-based Joel Henare, from Gisborne, won a 12^th Golden Shears open wool handling title, in an unbeaten sequence that started in 2013, spanning the two Golden Shears’ that were cancelled in the Covid era.

Henderson essentially blew the 20-sheep world machine shearing final apart, trailing veteran New Zealand-based Scotland international and 2012 winner Gavin Mutch mid-race, taking control on the long wool stretch, and pulling away on the second-shear sheep to clock 16min 40.349sec. and beating Mutch about a sheep, with 2014 winner Smith sneaking through to be second-man off, in 17min 15.67sec.

But Smith had the better quality and beat Henderson by 2.683 points, with Mutch taking third place, ahead of Welsh shearers Llyr Jones and defending champion Gwion Evans, and Denis O’Sullivan, from the Republic of Ireland.

In the Golden Shears open final, Mutch again took the lead, to hold on to finish the 20 sheep first in just under 16 minutes, beating Henderson by 14 seconds, but Henderson had the better quality and claimed victory by about half a point.

New Zealand blade shearers Allan Oldfield and Tony Dobbs won the team title on Friday, but South Africa pair Rabela and Teboho Nyatsa attained revenge by finishing first and second respectively, and in the wool handing individual final it was a New Zealand resident first three, with Henare’s win, Cook Island representative Keryn Herbert the runner-up and Charis Morrell placed third, representing Switzerland. Second New Zealand representative wool handler Marika Braddick, of Eketahuna, was fifth.

Earlier in the day, Jack Fagan, of Te Kuiti, won the National Shearing Circuit final, after dominating the five preliminary rounds, which ended him heading 12 qualifying for the semi-final earlier on Saturday.

Three former winners were eliminated in the semi-final, but major threat and three-times winner Nathan Stratford remained, and led the chase.

Fagan finished in 17min 15.213sec, a time advantage of almost four points, which Stratford pegged back to some degree with the better quality, but Fagan still won by 1.378 points, to secure a place in the 2026-2027 New Zealand trans-Tasman shearing and wool handling series team.

It was clearly a dream for Fagan to win the title, father Sir David Fagan having won times from 1986 to 2008. Jack Fagan shore in the 2024-2025 series, after finishing third in the circuit final.

In other Golden Shears shearing title finals, senior honours went to Taylor Tarrant, of Taumarunui, the new intermediate champion is Joseph Scahill, of Ireland, the Junior title was won by Sreffan George, of Wales, and the Novice was won by Sam Lawson, of Ongaonga.

Lucy Elers, of Mataura, retained the senior wool handlig title, the junior wool handling winner was Leah Tamainu, of Nuhaka, and the novice title was won by Isabelle Joiner, of Canada.

The North Island Woolhandling Circuit final was won by Ngaio Henson, of Eketahuna, retaining her place in the trans-Tasman series team.

Jeremy Goodger, of Masterton, won the Golden Shears men’s wool pressing title for a 14^th time, and the women’s title was won for the first time by Mollie Moffett, of Fernhill, Hawke’s Bay.

The next world championships will be held in Geelong, Vic., in 2029, and expected to be in the first week of November. The championships have been previously held in Australia in Perth, Western Australia in 1986 and Toowoomba, Queensland in 2005.

Results from the World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships Teams finals on March 6, 2026

Machine shearing

A final (16 sheep – 8 crossbred long wool, 8 second-shear): New Zealand (Rowland Smith, Toa Henderson) 16m 12.451s, 57.74pts, 1; England (Matt Smith, Nicholas Greaves) 15m 28.93s, 58.017pts, 2; Scotland (Hamish Mitchell, Gavin Mutch) 15m 59.36s, 58.538pts, 3; Wales (Gwion Evans, Llyr Jones) 16m 17.414s, 59.121pts, 4; Australia (Daniel McIntyre, Sam Bacon) 17m 51.644s, 63.582pts, 5; Falkland Islands (Adam Dickson, Evan Jones) 18m 23.192s, 66.28pts, 6.

B final (10 sheep – 5 crossbred long wool, 5 second-shear): Cook Island (Noel Gardiner, Max Winders) 12m 24.859s, 48.743pts, 1; France (Jeremy Leygonie, Felix Cesbron) 13m 29.991s, 49.6pts, 2; Republic Of Ireland (Denis O’Sullivan, Patrick Corrigan) 13m 33.006s, 52.45pts, 3; USA (Paul Astin, Alex Moser) 12m 26.845s, 53.242pts, 4; Mongolia (Bassandorj Erdenetogt, Serbudee Lkhgvasturen) 14m 45.352pts, 54.268pts, 5; Northern Ireland Graeme Davidson, Alex Butler) 13m 48.271pts, 54.714pts, 6.

Wool handling

A final (10 fleeces – 6 crossbred long wool, 4 second-shear): New Zealand (Joel Henare, Marika Braddick) 110.965pts, 1; Cook Islands (Keryn Herbert, Tina Elers) 163.022pts, 2; Australia (Racheal Hutchison, Alexander Schoff) 171.858pts, 3; Switzerland (Gabriela Schmidt-Morrell, Charis Morrell) 173.664pts, 4; Falkland Islands (Talia Jones, Pilar Castro) 175.1pts, 5; England (Hilary Bond-Harding, Jess Parkhouse) 223.723pts, 6.

Blade shearing

Championship final (6 sheep – 3 Perendale ewes, 3 crossbred long wool): New Zealand (Allan Oldfield, Tony Dobbs)  16m 46.515s, 63.496pts, 1; South Africa (Bonile Rabela, Teboho Nyatsa) 16m 51.275s, 64.724pts, 2; Australia (Johnathon Dalla, Daniel Rogers) 19m 40.136s, 76.177pts, 3; England (Andrew Mudge, George Mudge) 22m 15.006s,  83.75pts, 4; Wales (Elfed Jackson, Rhydian Evans)  20m 20.777s, 84.039pts, 5; Republic Of Ireland (James Hopkins, Martin Hopkins) 24m 2.857s, 89.973pts, 6.

Results from the 20th World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships and 64^th Golden Shears International Championships in Masterton, New Zealand, on March 4-7, 2026:

World championships – teams finals

Machine shearing

Individual final (20 sheep – 4 Perendale, 6 crossbred long wool, 10 second-shear): Rowland Smith (New Zealand) 17m 15.670s, 60.784pts, 1; Toa Henderson (New Zealand) 16m 40.349s, 63.467pts, 2; Gavin Mutch (Scotland) 17m 23.219s, 64.011pts, 3; Llyr Jones (Wales) 17m 53.349s, 69.017pts, 4; Gwion Evans (Wales) 18m 30.268s, 69.313pts, 5; Denis O’Sullivan (Ireland) 18m 54.244s, 71.662pts, 6.

Teams final (16 sheep – 8 crossbred long wool, 8 second-shear): New Zealand (Rowland Smith, Toa Henderson) 16m 12.451s, 57.74pts, 1; England (Matt Smith, Nicholas Greaves) 15m 28.93s, 58.017pts, 2; Scotland (Hamish Mitchell, Gavin Mutch) 15m 59.36s, 58.538pts, 3; Wales (Gwion Evans, Llyr Jones) 16m 17.414s, 59.121pts, 4; Australia (Daniel McIntyre, Sam Bacon) 17m 51.644s, 63.582pts, 5; Falkland Islands Adam Dickson, Evan Jones) 18m 23.192s, 66.28pts, 6.

Teams B final (10 sheep – 5 crossbred long wool, 5 second-shear): Cook Island (Noel Gardiner, Max Winders) 12m 24.859s, 48.743pts, 1; France (Jeremy Leygonie, Felix Cesbron) 13m 29.991s, 49.6pts, 2; Republic Of Ireland (Denis O’Sullivan, Patrick Corrigan) 13m 33.006s, 52.45pts, 3; USA (Paul Astin, Alex Moser) 12m 26.845s, 53.242pts, 4; Mongolia (Bassandorj Erdenetogt, Serbudee Lkhgvasturen) 14m 45.352pts, 54.268pts, 5; Northern Ireland Graeme Davidson, Alex Butler) 13m 48.271pts, 54.714pts, 6.

Wool handling

Individual final (8 fleeces – 2 perendale, 2 crossbred long wool, 4 second-shear): Joel Henare (New Zealand) 105.780pts, 1; Keryn Herbert (Cook Islands) 122.680pts, 2; Charis Morrell (Switzerland) 138.362pts, 3; Racheal  Hutchison  (Australia) 151.161pts, 4; Marika Braddick (New Zealand) 177.484pts, 5; Rosie Keenan (Scotland) 226.665pts, 6.

Teams final (10 fleeces – 6 crossbred long wool, 4 second-shear): New Zealand (Joel Henare, Marika Braddick) 110.965pts, 1; Cook Islands (Keryn Herbert, Tina Elers) 163.022pts, 2; Australia (Racheal Hutchison, Alexander Schoff) 171.858pts, 3; Switzerland (Gabriela Schmidt-Morrell, Charis Morrell) 173.664pts, 4; Falkland Islands (Talia Jones, Pilar Castro) 175.1pts, 5; England (Hilary Bond-Harding, Jess Parkhouse) 223.723pts, 6.

Blades shearing

Individual final (6 sheep – 3 Perendale, 3 crossred long wool): Bonile Rabela (South Africa) 14m 26.441s, 56.322pts, 1; Teboho  Nyatsa (South Africa) 15m 45.612s, 56.781pts, 2; Allan Oldfield (New Zealand) 14m 39.239s, 61.462pts, 3; Tony  Dobbs (New Zealand) 17m 20.313s, 65.016pts, 4; Johnathon  Dalla  (Australia) 16m 56.497s, 68.995pts, 5; Andrew Mudge (England) 19m 06.945s, 77.517pts, 6.

Teams final (6 sheep – 3 Perendale ewes, 3 crossbred long wool): New Zealand (Allan Oldfield, Tony Dobbs)  16m 46.515s, 63.496pts, 1; South Africa (Bonile Rabela, Teboho Nyatsa) 16m 51.275s, 64.724pts, 2; Australia (Johnathon Dalla, Daniel Rogers) 19m 40.136s, 76.177pts, 3; England (Andrew Mudge, George Mudge) 22m 15.006s,  83.75pts, 4; Wales (Elfed Jackson, Rhydian Evans)  20m 20.777s, 84.039pts, 5; Republic Of Ireland (James Hopkins, Martin Hopkins) 24m 2.857s, 89.973pts, 6.

Golden Shears results

Shearing

National Circuit Shearing Final (15 sheep – 3 Merino, 3 Corriedale, 3 crossbred long wool, 3 second-shear, 3 lambs): Jack Fagan (Te Kuiti) 17m 15.213s, 65.631pts, 1; Nathan Stratford (Invercargill) 18m 29.571s, 67.009pts, 2; Hugh De Lacy (Rangiora) 18m 38.815s, 68.341pts, 3; Justin Meikle (Oamaru) 18m 51.353s, 72.098pts, 4; Brook Hamerton (Hastings) 21m 01.431s, 75.132pts, 5; Lionel Taumata (Gore) 20m 50.185s, 76.439pts, 6.

Open final (20 sheep): Toa Henderson (Kaiwaka) 16m 13.228s, 56.111pts, 1; Gavin Mutch (Dannevirke) 15m 59.996s, 56.650pts, 2; Leon Samuels (Invercargill) 16m 18.999s, 57.300pts, 3; Hemi Braddick (Eketahuna) 16m 47.383s, 57.619pts, 4; Rowland Smith (Hastings) 17m 46.701s, 57.885pts, 5; Corey Palmer (Dipton) 17m 41.009s, 61.700pts, 6.

Senior final (12 sheep): Taelor Tarrant (Taumarunui) 12m 25.546s, 49.027pts, 1; Dre Roberts (Mataura) 13m 01.429s, 49.231pts, 2; Kaivah Cooper (Napier) 13m 38.292s, 52.755pts, 3; Frazer Caldwell (Omagh) 13m 28.019s, 52.991pts, 4; Daniel Copley (ENG) 14m 00.809s, 53.120pts, 5; Callum Bosley (Cornwall) 13m 22.493s, 53.705pts, 6.

Intermediate final (8 sheep): Joseph Scahill (Mayo, Ireland) 10m 35.740s, 42.537pts, 1; Tamati Dennison (Kurow) 10m 51.350s, 42.938pts, 2; Mitchell Yates (Kimba, South Australia) 11m 04.900s, 43.365pts, 3; Tye  Meikle (Oamaru) 10m 37.570s, 43.878pts, 4; Zakaia Lewis (Gisborne) 11m 00.710s, 44.656pts, 5; Michael Buick (Pongaroa) 11m 16.330s, 46.566pts, 6.

Junior final (5 sheep): Steffan George (Aberystwyth, Wales) 8m 43.333s, 33.367pts, 1; Sean Dunne (Wicklow, Ireland) 8m 38.211s, 33.511pts, 2; Ashlin Swann (Wairoa) 9m 26.154s, 34.908pts, 3; Mac Foreman (Pahiatua) 9m 14.877s, 34.944pts, 4; Phoebe Monk (Masterton) 8m 53.851s, 35.293pts, 5; Trent  Alabaster (Taihape) 8m 27.713s, 35.586pts, 6.

Novice final (2 sheep): Samuel Lawson (Napier Boys High School) 4m 39.858s, 25.993pts, 1; Ngahuia Salmond (Te Kuiti) 4m 45.685s, 30.784pts, 2; Maia Buick (Masterton) 7m 51.067s, 31.053pts, 3; Lexi Young (Gisborne) 6m 46.494s, 31.825pts, 4; Tsenden-Ish Jargalsaikhan (Sukhbaatar, Mongolia) 6m 22.106s, 35.105pts, 5; Riley Priest (Upper Hutt) 6m 55.230s, 41.762pts, 6.

Womens Invitation Shearing Final (6 sheep): Laura Bradley (Woodville) 8m 03.351s, 32.668pts, 1; Pagan Rimene (Alexandra) 9m 07.208s, 34.700pts, 2; Emma Martin (Gore) 8m 47.807s, 35.220pts, 3; Kate Donald (Stirling) 8m 46.318s, 37.316pts, 4; Nicki Guttler (Lockhart) 9m 26.355s, 39.318pts, 5; Una Cameron (St Boswells) 8m 31.728s, 42.416pts, 6.

Golden Shears MKM Originals Student Challenge (two sheep): Napier Boys’ High School No 1 Sam Lawson/Sam Whiteside) 23.93pts, 1; Lindisfarne College No 2 (Cooper Ellingham/Lachie Butler) 31.29pts, 2; Pukemiro (Oliver Selby/Riley Priest) 32.16pts, 3.

Open Speed Shear (1 sheep): Jack Fagan (Te Kuiti)  19.345s, 16.676pts, 1; Forde Alexander (Taumarunui) 20.611s, 2; Llyr Evans (Napier) 3; Paerata Abraham (Masterton) 4.

Senior Speed Shear (1 sheep): Cheyden Winiana (Nuhaka) 22.094s, 1; Randall Aranui (Martinborough) 24.365s, 2; Ryka Swann (Wairoa) 3; Dre Roberts (Mataura) 4.

Open Blade Shearing Final (5 sheep): Teboho  Nyatsa (Rouxvill, South Africa) 12m 20.929s, 48.046pts, 1; Allan Oldfield (Geraldine) 12m 25.867s, 51.693pts, 2; Bonile Rabela (Sterkspruit, South Africa) 13m 10.256s, 52.513pts, 3; Tony  Dobbs (Fairlie) 14m 32.382s, 55.619pts, 4; Andrew Mudge (Tavistock, England) 16m 09.883s, 61.294pts, 5; Mike McConnell (Timaru) 16m 30.071s, 67.904pts, 6.

Wool handling

Open final (10 fleeces): Joel Henare (Gisborne) 122.893pts, 1; Logan Kamura (Marton) 133.447pts, 2; Pagan Rimene (Alexandra) 136.860pts, 3; Keryn Herbert (Te Kuiti) 140.999pts, 4.

Senior final (5 fleeces): Lucy Elers (Mataura) 132.419pts, 1; Tre Ratana- Sciascia (Taihape) 134.806pts, 2; Amy Bell (Dannevirke) 154.321pts, 3; Shyla Gordon (Masterton) 169.534pts, 4.

Junior final (4 fleeces): Leah Tamainu (Hastings) 107.363pts, 1; Waiari Puna (Napier) 117.670pts, 2; Opal Ramsay (Pongaroa) 138.670pts, 3; Caitlin  Murphy  (Pongaroa) 157.122pts, 4.

Novice final (2 fleeces): Isabelle Joiner (Calgary, Canada) 80.118pts, 1; Arcadia Jope (Eketahuna) 85.951pts, 2; Katie Hauiti (Dannevirke) 88.461pts, 3; Roseen Crellin-Christian (Isle of Man) 121.844pts, 4.

North Island Woolhandling Open Circuit (6 fleeces): Ngaio Hanson (Eketahuna) 97.401pts, 1; Marika Braddick (Eketahuna) 102.004pts, 2; Keryn Herbert (Te Kuiti) 107.366pts, 3; Vinniye Phillips (Taumarunui) 132.759pts, 4.

Wool pressing

Golden Shears Men’s Singles final: Jeremy Goodger (Masterton) 46.05pts, 1; Ricci Stevens (Napier) 48.35pts, 2.

Golden Shears Women’s Singles final: Mollie Moffett (Hastings) 62.85pts, 1; Savvanah King (Eketahuna) 69.2pts, 2.

Golden Shears Pairs final: Jeremy Goodger and Conan Harmon (Masterton) 26.05pts, 1; Ricci and Angela Stevens (Napier) 37.5pts, 2.