They won three and lost three.
And given the competition on the northern summer shearing tour, was a good result team New Zealand team manager Mark Barrowcliffe said.
David Buick (left), manager Mark Barrowcliffe, Jack Fagan celebrated test match wins in Europe.
The wins came while on the Wools of New Zealand Shearing Sports New Zealand tour, which saw Te Kūiti shearer Jack Fagan and teammate David Buick, of Pongaroa, claim test match wins at the Great Yorkshire Show, in France and the Royal Wells Show and the open final at Martel in France.
“As team manager their preparation before and after the shows was exceptional,” Barrowcliffe said. “They really had a handle on the sheep because they are so different to New Zealand sheep, and the United Kingdom has got such depth in their shearing at the moment.”
The northern sheep are generally smaller and trickier, he said. They were a lot more open than the sheep in New Zealand and had less wool around the points.
“Just getting out of the heats is a mission and as a judge I’m there thinking this level is so high, it’s incredible. That was really cool to see, just the finish the UK shearers can achieve on their sheep.”
Over five sheep in a heat it was hard to have a real time influence, he said.
“Obviously the further down the competitions we got as in semis and finals we had the speed to drag them along or force mistakes out of them, which was cool,” he said.
“Three times out of six we beat them and the other three they beat us. Out of a whole series three tests each which was good. What I’m meaning is in the heats it’s very hard to get much of a time advantage, but over 10, 20, you can push the time question.
“It was so tight one of our test wins there was per shearer, there was a two second time difference. So if each shearer had shorn two seconds slower or faster, the result would have been the other way – over 20 sheep, which is incredible.”
It made for an exciting series. There were big crowds at the venues, who really got in behind their own home side and pushed them along.
“It was really good to be part of,” Barrowcliffe said, praising the New Zealan shearers’ professionalism: “To be able to handle that pressure of shearing sheep that they are not used to, with a hostile crowd.”
In Wales the crowds sang, and the venues created atmosphere with their size and they were farming crowds. In France the show was in the middle of town. There were a few farmers but a lot of people who didn’t know what shearing was but thought it was cool to watch, he said.
“Yorkshire that was a good crowd on a pretty average day. Good venue. We were lucky to win that test too, just.
