The temperature when the pH=6.0 (temp@pH6) impacts on the tenderness and eating quality of sheep meat. Due to the expense, sarcomere length is not routinely measured as a variable to explain variation in shear force, but whether measures such as temp@pH6 are as useful a parameter needs to be established. Measures of rigor onset in 261 carcases, including the temp@pH6, were evaluated in this study for their ability to explain some of the variation in shear force. The results show that for 1day aged product combinations of the temp@pH6, the pH at 18°C and the pH at 24h provided a larger reduction (almost double) in total shear force variation than sarcomere length alone, with pH at 24h being the single best measure. For 5day aged product, pH at 18°C was the single best measure. Inclusion of sarcomere length did represent some improvement, but the marginal increase would not be cost effective.