New Zealand shearers Rowland Smith and Tony Coster are faced with bouncing back from two losses to Wales as they try to square the ledger at the end of the 2013 Elders Primary Wool UK tour this week.
With a loss to Scotland followed by two wins against England and one over Ulster, the pair succumbed to the Wales team of Gareth Daniel and Richard Jones at the Cothi Shears on Friday and the Lampeter Shears on Saturday, revenge for a whitewash suffered by Welshmen Jones and teammate Gareth Evans in New Zealand last summer.
For the Welsh, their four-test series opener at Cothi was particularly popular, its lambs having been dominated by New Zealand teams in three successive tests in 2010, 2011, and 2012. On Friday, the Welsh won by 5pts, although there was a close battle for individual honours in which Jones edged out Smith.
It was much closer at Lampeter, Smith just taking the individual honours, and just 1.45pts separating the four shearers in the event, before Wales claimed victory by just 1.15pts.
Smith won the Cothi Shears Open final, in which non-team tourer, veteran Kiwi and multiple World, Golden Shears and New Zealand champion David Fagan was third. He had been first to finish, just beating Daniel and Smith in shearing the 20 lambs in 12min 32.8sec, but Daniel sealed his victory with the best quality points.
Smith had to settle for second place in the Lampeter Shears Open final, Daniel restoring some Welsh pride to the event which had also been won by New Zealanders in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
The tour, with the Kiwis holding a 3-3 record from six tests and Wales up 2-0 in their series, ends with tests at the Royal Welsh Show midweek and the Corwen Shears at the weekend.
