Competitors from all across the world flocked to the Royal Highland Show as it hosted the Golden Shears World Championships – the first time the event has been in Scotland in 20 years.
Typically the host nation’s supporters have the loudest voices but a strong contingent from Wales certainly made their presence felt and the noise was near deafening at times in the MacRobert Theatre. But no wonder, as the Welsh wonders gave the crowd plenty to celebrate by making it a near clean sweep for Tîm Cymru as they claimed the team wool handling and team machine titles as well as the top two places in the individual final.
In what is thought to be a first for the Goldies, which welcomed competitors from 29 counties, none from the Southern Hemisphere made it through to the open final and on all six stands were shearers from the home nations.
With a total of 20 Cheviot hoggs to shear in the final they set off at a rapid pace and the first hogg was sent down the chute in just 38 seconds by Scotsman Calum Shaw, but it was Welsh shearer, Gwion Evans on stand one, that raced through his fifth to go in for his sixth ahead of Calum and if you thought that was quick then Gwion’s seventh seemed even quicker.
Gwion kept up the pace and the crowd kept up the noise as the shearers raced on and the sweat started to gather on their brows. By the time Gwion brought number 16 out on the board, Calum was fetching his 15th and the others – Ireland’s Denis O’Sullivan and Ivan Scott, England’s Adam Berry and Wales’ Richard jones, were a full sheep behind that.
Pressing the stop button on 14 minutes and 56 seconds, Gwion was nearly a full minute ahead of Calum as the six shearers averaged 48 seconds per sheep and while it’s not all about speed, Gwion’s fastest time combined with the lowest pen mark of 130 and a board score of 51 gave him the combined total of 53.850 and secured the 33-year-old farmer from North Wales the title of Golden Shears World Champion.
As the results were announced in reverse order, cries of the Welsh national anthem, Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, rang out when it was clear the two Welshmen had claimed the top two spots. The 2019 World Champion from when the competition was held in France, Richard Jones, claimed second place with a total of 57.450 having notched up 38 on the board and 146 in the pen.
In third was Fife shearer and former team winner, Calum Shaw, whose 51 on the board and 180 in the pen gave him a total of 59.050 while the two Irish shearers followed on with Denis O’Sullivan on 60.500 and Ivan Scott on 61.500. Cumbria’s Adam Berry followed close behind with 61.550 to land sixth.
In the team machine final, in which New Zealand secured a place alongside the five home nations, England’s Matthew Smith set the pace and flew through his 10 hoggs but as the shearers swapped positions it was the ‘flying Scotsman’, Hamish Mitchell, who proved to be just that, as he edged the lead ahead of England’s Adam Berry as they went in for hogg 17. This really set the Scottish supporters off and the cheers got louder each time Hamish went in for his next in the lead but the stop buttons were both pressed in 15 minutes and 49 seconds.
Despite this, the Welsh lads, Gwion and Richard, set their standard from the start and a tidier pen score of 160 combined with 57 on the board edged them the lead with 59.450. England finished second with 60.350 while Scotland was third with 62.000.
The Welsh also landed the team wool handling title as Ffion Jones and Sarah-Jane Rees claimed the top spot with 217.700 having picked up the fewest points on the table at 145 while a fast time edged France into second place with 233.000 and Scotland picked up third with 253.100.
Scotland’s Rosie Keenan and Audrey Aiken made up for it in the individual wool handling though as they secured the top two positions in that order, much to each other’s delight as well as the Scottish supporters. Formally from Lochearnhead and now living in Sutherland, Rosie’s lowest board and table marks of 34 and 66 gave her a total tally of 110.200 against Audrey’s 158.200 while France’s Lucie Grancher finished third with 205.000.
The South African team continued their unrivalled dominance of the blade finals as Bonile Rabela and Zwelamoakhosi Mbuweni finished first and second in the individual and won the team competition too. With the six hoggs clipped in an average of two minutes 23 seconds in the individual final and Bonile the fasted to finish on 13 minutes 14, his 34 on the board and 118 in the pen gave him a total of 65.034.
This compared to Zwelamoakhosi’s 67.350 with 29 on the board and 124 in the pen while England’s Andrew Mudge finished third with 65.034 having notched up 30 on the board and 124 in the pen. New Zealander and former blades winner, Tony Dobbs was fourth with 70.850 while Australian John Dalla was fifth with 76.133 and Wales’ Elfed Jackson was sixth with 79.100.
The South Africans teamed up to win the blade team final with 101.800 having picked up 32 on the board and 290 in the pen after clipping their 10 hoggs in 23 minutes and 12 seconds. This put Bonile and Zwelamoakhosi ahead of New Zealand on 103.550 and Wales on 115.700.
The German team proved victorious in the invitation development test for countries not in the Six Nations circuit.
Earlier in the busy schedule, the Welsh team made their intentions clear from the start as Richard Jones won the RHS open with 50.450 ahead of Gwion Evans in second with 52.300 and Jack Robinson in third with 54.000. The only Scotsman to make the final, Gavin Mutch, was fourth with 54.250 while Gareth Daniel was fifth and Leon Samuels sixth with 56.050 and 56.550, respectively.
A hotly contested Scottish National which secures the winner a place on the National team for 2024 along with the winner of the Scottish circuit was headed up by Calum Shaw who not only clipped his 20 hoggs in the fastest time of 14 minutes and 16, but also had the lowest board score of 51 to finish on 53.500. Second here was Gavin Mutch with 56.850 while Hamish Mitchell was third with 58.950.
The RHS blade final was headed up by James Hopkins who, despite have one of the slower times, had the lowest board and pen scored of 5 and 106 to tally 73.100. Andrew Mudge came in second with 75.950 and John Dalla was third with 76.850.
England’s Hilary Bond-Harding led the RHS open wool handling with the lowest board and table scores to finish on 100.000 while Rosie and Audrey followed in second and third with 139.800 and 147.400.
Other winners in the RHS competitions included Russell Smyth winning the seniors, Dewi Jones headed up the intermediates and Steven Wilson led the juniors. The novice blades was won by Susie Parish while Sarah Bateman won the novice wool handling and Steven Anderson won the Young Farmers.
Leading Awards:
World individual machine (20 sheep) – 1, Gwion Evans (14minutes 56 seconds, 51 board, 130 pen, 53.850 total); 2, Richard Jones (16.05, 38, 146, 57.450); 3, Calum Shaw (15.50, 51, 180, 59.050); 4, Denis O’Sullivan (16.56, 26, 168, 60.500); 5, Ivan Scott (16.12, 26, 232, 61.500); 6, Adam Berry (16.08, 38, 225, 61.550).
World individual wool handling (seven fleeces) – 1, Rosie Keenan (1 minute 21, 34 board, 66 table, 110.200 total); 2, Audrey Aiken (1.36, 44, 101, 158.200); 3, Lucie Grancher (1.15, 55, 141, 205.000).
World individual blade (six) – 1, Bonila Rabela (13.14, 34, 118, 65.034); 2, Zwelamoakhosi Mbuweni (13.57, 29, 124, 67.350); 3, Andrew Mudge (14.16, 30, 124, 68.467); 4, Tony Dobbs (13.37, 35, 145, 70.850); 5, John Dalla (16.06, 29, 138, 76.133); 6, Elfed Jackson (14.52, 36, 171, 79.100).
World team machine (20) – 1, Wales (16.12, 57, 160, 59.450); 2, England (15.49, 57, 201, 60.350); 3, Scotland (15.49, 53, 238, 62.000); Ireland (17.55, 40, 180, 64.750); 4, Northern Ireland (16.50, 53, 281, 67.200); 6, New Zealand (16.56, 60, 298, 68.700).
World team wool handling (14) – 1, Wales (57, 67, 145, 217.700); 2, France (40, 81, 148, 233.000); 3, Scotland (51, 63, 185, 253.100).
World team blade (10) – 1, South Africa (23.12, 32, 290, 101.800); 2, New Zealand (23.05, 32, 311, 103.550); 3, Wales (26.30, 56, 306, 115.700); 4, Australia (25.52, 26, 357, 119.500); 5, England (29.06, 70, 252, 119.500); 6, Ireland (32.45, 22, 229, 123.350).
Invitation development (six) – 1, Germany (13.32, 37, 130, 68.434); 2, Netherlands (14.43, 66, 146, 79.483); 3, Switzerland (16.12, 57, 147, 82.600).
RHS open (20) – 1, Richard Jones (14.34, 34, 101, 50.450); 2, Gwion Evans (14.13, 42, 151, 52.300); 3, Jack Robinson (15.25, 45, 110, 54.000); 4, Gavin Mutch (14.29, 45, 171, 54.250); 5, Gareth Daniel (14.39, 45, 203, 56.050)’ 6, Leon Samuels (15.21, 30, 180, 56.550).
Scottish National (20) – 1, Calum Shaw (14.16, 51, 163, 53.500); 2, Gavin Mutch (17.17, 76, 204, 56.850); 3, Hamish Mitchell (15.29, 90, 160, 58.950); 4, Stuart Davidson (16.17, 83, 281, 67.050); 5, Ryan Maclean (19.13, 103, 194, 72.500); 6 Jordan Smeaton (19.42, 93, 255, 76.500).
RHS open wool handling – 1, Hilary Bond-Harding (2.05, 42, 39, 100.000); 2, Rosie Keenan (2.04, 43, 78, 139.800); 3, Audrey Aiken (2.32, 46, 77, 147.400).
RHS novice wool handling – 1, Sarah Bateman (1.01, 55, 106, 167.200); 2, Sonya Fagan (1.41, 48, 106, 168.200); 3, Archie Sepulveda (2.11, 69, 100, 189.200).
RHS open blade (five) – 1, James Hopkins (16.58, 5, 106, 73.100); 2, Andrew Mudge (13.11, 46, 136, 75.950); 3, John Dalla (12.09, 21, 181, 76.850); 4, Peter Heraty (14.39, 7, 159, 77.150); 5, Gareth Owen (15.42, 40, 125, 80.100); 6, Mark Armstrong (17.25, 29, 128, 83.650).
RHS novice blade (one) – 1, Susie Parish (10.10, 8, 25, 63.500); 2, Maureen Cadet (8.04, 7, 33, 64.200); 3, Cameron Wilson (5.41, 10, 42, 69.050); 4, James Lewis (6.20, 8, 46, 73.000); 5, Craig Naylor (11.00, 15, 124, 172.000).
RHS senior (10) – 1, Russell Smyth (11.29, 30, 114, 48.850); 2, Andrew Rea (11.31, 31, 151, 49.750); 3, Ryan Adams (11.13, 36, 128, 50.050); 4, Aaron Magee (11.30, 25, 144, 51.400); 5, Henry Cornthwaite (10.27, 44, 161, 51.580); 6, Sam McConnell (11.42, 37, 156, 54.400). Steven Anderson (8.01
RHS intermediate (seven) – 1, Dewi Jones (8.18, 40, 66, 40.043); 2, Deio Williams (8.25, 18, 94, 41.250); 3, Jack Samuel (7.54, 30, 99, 42.129); 4, Steven Anderson (8.01, 27, 106, 43.050); 5, Luke Magee (9.21, 17, 98, 44.479); 6, Clarke Hibberd (8.36, 27, 200, 58.228).
RHS junior (four) – 1, Steven Wilson (6.22, 23, 49, (37.100); 2, Paddy Dune (5.40, 19, 74, 40.250); 3, Frazer Caldwell (6.59, 26, 55, 41.200); 4, Harvey Samuel (6.27, 28, 75, 45.100); 5, Robin Krause (9.09, 21, 88, 54.700); 6, Iwan Ellis (7.11, 41, 126, 63.300).
Young Farmers (four) – 1, Steven Anderson (5.37, 17, 46, 32.600); 2, Ben Wight (7.51, 28, 53, 43.800); 3, Lewis Mackay (6.08, 73, 50, 49.150); 4, Cameron Armstrong (5.30, 75, 73, 53.500); 5, Murry McHarg (6.55, 64, 91, 57.000); 6, Jack Simpson (6.14, 97, 104, 68.950).
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