Portia Woodman-Wickliffe signs for Blues for Super Rugby Aupiki, rules out World Cup run

Tuesday, 22 October 2024

Portia Woodman-Wickliffe says she is 'pretty adamant' about her international retirement, despite signing on to play for the Blues in next year's Super Rugby Aupiki.

Portia Woodman-Wickliffe has decided to make an emotional and spiritual connection with the Blues for Super Rugby Aupiki in 2025, though is stopping short of opening the door on one more crack at the World Cup XVs title.

One of the best to have laced ‘em up in the New Zealand game, the two-time Olympic sevens gold medallist and dual World Cup XVs champion on Tuesday revealed she had signed a one-year deal to play Aupiki with the Auckland-based Blues.

After winning the World Cup in 2021 with the Black Ferns, Portia Woodman is adamant she won’t be back for another tilt.

She has done so, she said, to have the chance to play alongside her niece, Kerri Johnson, and to connect with the team that represents the Northland region she still calls home (though she lives now in the Bay of Plenty). She will join them in February when a stint playing in Japan with the Mie Pearls comes to an end.

In July Woodman-Wickliffe revealed the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she was part of the back-to-back gold medal-winning New Zealand sevens team, would mark her retirement from international rugby

Portia Woodman-Wickliffe celebrates with her team after winning the Olympic sevens gold medal in Paris

And she told The Post she has no intention of going back on that pledge, no matter how much success she might have for the Blues on the Aupiki stage.

“I get that, I understand that,” she said when it was noted top sports people do no always stay retired. “I think that’s going to be the tricky part. But I am pretty adamant I’m not playing for New Zealand, purely because I want to play with freedom. I want to play social netball, and social touch. Those are the things I’m looking forward to.

“I’m going to stick with Super Rugby, club and FPC. I’m not looking to the black jersey. I’ve done that. I’ve achieved what I wanted to achieve. This is where I want to be.”

The World Cup’s record try-scorer said her niece’s presence in the Blues squad, and the experience of her wife, Renee Wickliffe, in being part of the champion 2024 squad had been the catalysts to take the deal.

Portia Woodman: ‘I’m not looking to the black jersey. I’ve done that. I’ve achieved what I wanted to achieve.’

“I’m hoping to play alongside my niece before she gets into the black jersey,” she said. “Watching Renee at the final last year, I got to hang out with them and see the environment. I loved it, and said to [caoch] Willie [Walker] we’re family now, so look within the family.

“This is home. I’m Northand proud, and this is their club.”

In terms of how much rugby she still has in her, Woodman-Wickliffe, who is not ruling out a deal in league in her future, said: “My dad (Kawhena Woodman) stopped playing rugby when he was like 55. If I get to that point, great. But I’m playing rugby as long as the body can handle it.

“I played 10-12 years of high-performance, for my country. Now it’s playing to have a good time, and be with my mates.”

Woodman-Wickliffe won two XVs World Cups with the Black Ferns, and twin Olympic golds and a Commonwealth Games gold, as well as two World Cup crowns and multiple world series titles, in the abbreviated game. In 2020 she was named the world sevens player of the decade.