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.
The noise in the MacRobert Theatre was deafening at times, particularly from the Welsh contingent of supporters but they had plenty to celebrate as it was nearly a clean sweep for Tîm Cymru as they claimed the team woolhandling and team machine titles as well as the top two places in the individual final.
With 20 Cheviot hoggs to shear in the final the shearers, all from the home nations, 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 by the time he 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.
Golden Shears World Champion
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 from North Wales the title of Golden Shears World Champion.
Fellow Welshman and the 2019 World Champion, Richard Jones, was nearly three points behind in second with 57.450 while Calum Shaw finished third with 59.050.
Wales set their standard from the start as Gwion and Richard secured the machine team title with a combined score of 59.450 while England’s Adam Berry and Matthew Smith were second with 60.350 and Scotland’s Calum Shaw and Hamish Mitchell were third with 62.000.
The Welsh also landed the team woolhandling title as Ffion Jones and Sarah-Jane Rees claimed the top spot with 217.700 ahead of France with 233.000 and Scotland with 253.100.
Scotland’s Rosie Keenan and Audrey Aiken made up for it in the individual woolhandling though as they secured the top two positions in that order. 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 dominated 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 and Bonile the fasted to finish on 13 minutes 14, his 34 on the board and 118 in the pen gave him 65.034 compared to Zwelamoakhosi’s 67.350. England’s Andrew Mudge finished third with 65.034.
The South Africans teamed up to win the blade team final with 101.800 ahead of New Zealand on 103.550 and Wales on 115.700.
Earlier in the busy schedule, the Welsh team set the standard as Richard Jones won the RHS open ahead of Gwion Evans in second and Jack Robinson in third.
A hotly contested Scottish National was headed up by Calum Shaw followed by Gavin Mutch and Hamish Mitchell.
The RHS blade final was headed up by James Hopkins with Andrew Mudge in second and John Dalla in third.
England’s Hilary Bond-Harding led the RHS open woolhandling while Rosie and Audrey followed in second and third.
Golden Shears World Championship Awards
World individual machine (20 sheep) – 1, Gwion Evans (14 minutes 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 woolhandling (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 woolhandling (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 woolhandling – 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 woolhandling – 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).
