Thursday February 28 2008

WEST Country shearer Tom “Langa” Burgess fleeces his way to the finish at New Zealand’s famous Golden Shears competition today.
Burgess, from Somerset, came to New Zealand at the start of the shearing season and spent his time shearing hefty Romneys in the South Island.
He then headed to Masterton in the North Island to compete at the Golden Shears 2008 in the Junior Shearing Event.
“I was a bit sort of nervous to start with but once I was on the stand it was fine,” he said.
“These sheep are like lambs compared to the ones down there, they’re all big fat Romneys!”
Burgess said he’d been working on farms in England and hadn’t been shearing for long.
He didn’t make the final but was keen to keep at competition shearing and was planning to stay for the New Zealand Championships in Te Kuiti in the last week of March. 
The Golden Shears runs from Thursday February 28 to Saturday March 1 and sees competitors from New Zealand, Norway, Australia, the UK, Ireland, and South Africa battle for the top titles.
The Golden Shears, which celebrates it's 50th birthday in 2010, is very much a fixture of the New Zealand rural calendar and closely linked to the national identity as a farming nation producing some of the world's finest wool.

For a full programme and live video action see www.goldenshears.co.nz.

For free images or further information contact the Golden Shears Media Group at goldenshears@pete.co.nz or phone 0064 21 488 137 or 0064 27 5788 137.