Mutch wins international competition

A Taranaki-based shearer, originally from Scotland, has broken a New Zealand winning streak in an international event. Despite living and farming in New Zealand, Gavin Mutch represented Scotland in the Herdwick Lakeland Shears Open and won it for the second time in 10 years. The event in the north of England had been won by New Zealand shearers for the past nine years but during the July 7 competition none of them reached the five-man final in Cumbria. Mutch beat 31 other international shearers, including Nathan Stratford, of Invercargill, and David Buick, of Pongaroa, by shearing 20 sheep in 14min 13sec and gaining 52.25 point.