The competition regarded as the Bledisloe Cup of sheep shearing is back on the calendar in 2022.
The Australian national shearing and woolhandling championships date back 48 years, but was postponed for the last two, due to COVID-19.
Next month, the NZ team will travel to Bendigo to reignite the trans-Tasman rivalry.
Just like the All Blacks, our international shearers are paid to train, with their income dependent on how many sheep they get through daily.
"Crossbreds, you're probably looking at 300 sheep," said shearer Nathan Stratford. "That's when you're up there."
"A lot of guys are averaging 16 seconds [per sheep]," said shearer Leon Samuels. "That's a pretty quick sheep."
That's the kind of speed machine-shearers Samuels and Stratford will hope for, when they represent New Zealand in Victoria next month.
"Basically, it is the Bledisloe Cup of our industry," said Stratford.
Stratford - who's based in Omarama - has sheared in 15 tests against Australia, while Central Otago's Samuels will make his debut.
"It's pretty big," said Samuels. "The emotion when you see the boys on stage… it's pretty high."
The pair have similar backstories. Both of them have it in their blood, raised by sheep-shearing fathers.
They'll head across the ditch with team manager Greg Stuart and everyone just hopes there will be no blaming the referee in this upcoming trans-Tasman clash.
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