March 07, 2026

#hakinakina: Aotearoa claims historic treble at World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships

Matthew Tukaki Posted On March 7, 2026

New Zealand has achieved a historic milestone in the shearing world, becoming the first nation to win all three team titles at the World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships.

The unprecedented treble was secured on Friday during the 2026 championships held alongside the 64th Golden Shears in Masterton, where New Zealand teams captured victories in machine shearing, blades shearing, and woolhandling.

The achievement marks a dramatic turnaround for the New Zealand side, which failed to secure a single team or individual title at the previous world championships in Scotland in 2023.

The machine shearing final proved to be one of the closest contests of the event. The New Zealand team of Rowland Smith from Maraekakaho and Toa Henderson from Kaiwaka edged out England by the narrowest of margins. Their combined performance delivered a winning score of 57.74 points, just 0.277 points ahead of England’s team of Matt Smith and Nick Greaves.

Despite England recording the faster overall time in the 16-sheep final, the New Zealand pair produced superior quality shearing to reclaim the machine shearing world title, which the country last held in 2017.

In the blades shearing final, South Canterbury shearers Allan Oldfield and Tony Dobbs secured victory in a tense contest against South Africa. The competition unfolded like a classic trans-Tasman style showdown, with the margin ultimately decided by 1.228 points after the teams completed six sheep each.

The final moments had the crowd at Masterton’s War Memorial Stadium captivated as South African champion Bonile Rabela mounted a late push during the final sheep. Despite the charge, the New Zealand pair held their advantage to claim the title.

The woolhandling final proved to be more decisive. The New Zealand team of Joel Henare from Gisborne and Marika Braddick from Eketāhuna delivered a commanding performance, finishing with 110.965 points, more than 52 points ahead of the Cook Islands team of Keryn Herbert and Tina Elers, who placed second.

Australia finished third, followed by Switzerland, the Falkland Islands and England.

In another milestone for the championships, the first-ever machine shearing B final was won by a Cook Islands team featuring Noel Gardiner from Whanganui and Max Winders from Invercargill.

The treble victory highlights New Zealand’s enduring strength in the global shearing industry, a sector deeply connected to the country’s rural economy and farming traditions.

With victories across all three disciplines, the New Zealand team’s performance in Masterton has set a new benchmark in international shearing competition and reaffirmed the country’s reputation as a powerhouse of the wool industry.