Black singlets, black T-shirts and red ribbons mixed like streamers on election night as New Zealand claimed an unprecedented five wins in six events at the Golden Shears World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships which ended in Masterton on Saturday night.

Following a cleansweep of the teams machine shearing, blades shearing and woolhandling titles on Friday, Joel Henare, from Gisborne, completed a third teams and individual titles double, and Rowland Smith, of Maraekakaho, claimed a second individual 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 South African Bonile Rabela's successful defence of the blades shearing title.

In the other two major events on the last night, Northland shearer Toa Henderson successfully defended the Golden Shears Open shearing title, and Motueka-based Joel Henare, from Gisborne, won a 12th Golden Shears open woolhandling 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 blades 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 woolhanding 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 woolhandler 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 transtasman shearing and woolhandling 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 woolhandlig title, the Junior woolhandling 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 transtasman series team..

Jeremy Goodger, of Masterton, won the Golden Shears Men's woolpressing title for a 14th time, and the women's title was won for the first time by Mollie Moffett, of Ferrnhill, 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, W.A., in 1986, and Toowoomba, Qld, in 2005.

Five titles as New Zealand dominates World shearing ad woolhandling championships

New Zealand shearing team wins unprecedented World titles treble

Golden Shears