“I struggled with still a bit of jet lag, and a combination of two days’ shearing in this heatwave had knocked me around quite bad.
“I should be in much better shape for the next test.”
Fagan, from Te Kūiti, and Braddick, from Eketāhuna, were unable to match the Welsh for pace, with Lewis first to finish in 13m 50s, and Evans next 14s later. Braddick was next in 15m 19s, and Fagan last off in 16m 3s – a black-singlets time deficit of 10.4 points.
But the Kiwis both had better quality points than either of the Welsh, with Braddick saying: “They were good sheep”.
Fagan reached the semi-final of the Epynt Open, which was won by Lewis, who shears each southern summer based in Hawke’s Bay.
The Kiwis now tackle a one-off test at the Great Yorkshire Show on Wednesday, against an England team comprising of Cornwall farmer and former Northland and Hawke’s Bay shearer Matt Smith and teammate Adam Berry.
Fagan and Braddick will then complete their tour with a week of the three remaining tests against Wales, at Cothi on Saturday, the Royal Welsh Show four days later, and the Corwen Shears on July 25.
While Wales have dominated home series against New Zealand, England have not fared so well; New Zealand teams having won Great Yorkshire Show test matches in both 2024 and 2025.
International (20 sheep): Wales 113.75pts (Gwion Lloyd Evans 14m 4s, 56.4pts; Gethin Lewis 13m 50s, 57.35pts) beat New Zealand 120.25pts (Hemi Braddick 15m 19s, 59.5pts; Jack Fagan 16m 3s, 60.75pts).