Sheep shearing seems to be a lot like rugby – New Zealanders are the world leaders.
And like rugby, there has never been an Irish world champion in sheep shearing and just one has ever competed in a final – Willy Jones from Northern Ireland. Mind you, the current world champion is Scottish native Gavin Mutch, but he lives in New Zealand.
Beating the kiwis, who held the first ever world championships in 1961, has been an unfulfilled Irish dream. Until now.
Hopes are rising for a first ever Irish world win with Ivan Scott. Yesterday, he won the All-Ireland title, for the eighth time, at the Golden Shears World Sheep Shearing and Wool Handling Championships, which are being held in Gorey, Co Wexford.
The Donegal man had an impressive win last week, beating two New Zealanders and the reigning world champion at a contest in Ballinrobe, according to Darren Carty, Irish Farmer's Journal sheep editor. He also holds a world record for shearing 744 lambs in eight hours.
Serious business Wexford native and a contender in the All-Ireland championship, Roy Collier agrees that Scott is the "first serious contender" for the worlds.
From Camolin, Collier has been shearing sheep and competing since 1998. But “it’s only in the last couple of years that I’ve got any good at it”, he says.
Last year, Collier created the British Isles record for shearing 521 lambs in one session.
Sheep shearing is serious business, especially for New Zealanders. So much so that three New Zealand journalists sat behind the judging area yesterday, sending home live updates on the heats of the hotly contested sport.
Competitions are televised live in New Zealand, with commentary similar to horse racing and the heats lasting about as long as a race.
The commentary starts with the slow gambolling delivery, warming up with a bit of detail on the contestants and their animals and colourful references to wriggling sheep – “she’s what’s known as a Michael Flatley, she’s a bit of a dancer”.
And for the contestants who have a slow start: “You might think they’re dragging down the drain, but they have a plan”.
The tone speeds up as the heat moves in to the final flight with calls of “the harder you cheer the faster they’ll shear” and, at the end, “the Irishman drops under the belly” as the winner finishes off their sheep.
'The big top' Yesterday was day one at the championships, which is like a smaller version of the ploughing championships and is expected to attract 40,000 visitors over its four days. And just like the ploughing, there was a posse of politicians yesterday, whom the shearing commentators had a bit of fun with when they arrived at the "fine stadium". An outsider might call it "the big top", so much like a massive circus tent was the competition arena.
The event is all about the shearing, with more than 6,000 sheep to be shorn by 300 competitors from 27 countries over the four days. This year sees China, which has the world's largest sheep population, participating in their first ever international championships. Goldenshearsireland.com
