Portia Woodman-Wickliffe (née Woodman; born 12 July 1991) is a New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. She plays fifteen-a-side and seven-a-side rugby union, and is a member of the

New Zealand Women's Sevens The New Zealand Women's Sevens is an annual women's rugby sevens tournament, currently hosted at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton. The tournament is one of the stops on the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series and is hosted as pa ...

team and New Zealand Women's National Rugby Union team. Woodman was a member of the New Zealand Women's Sevens team when they won a gold medal at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

in Tokyo. In 2022, Woodman became the first woman to score 200 tries in the Sevens Series.

Biography

Netball

Woodman initially played netball for the

Northern Mystics Northern Mystics are a New Zealand netball team based in Auckland. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Northern in the ANZ Premiership. Netball Northern is the governing body tha ...

before switching to

in 2012.

Rugby career

Woodman first became involved in rugby union through New Zealand's Go4Gold grassroots initiative in 2012. The nationwide campaign was established by the

New Zealand Rugby Union New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it became an affiliate to t ...

, and aimed to identify future athletes from other sports to compete at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

, where rugby sevens was making its debut. Woodman was selected to join the programme alongside Northern Mystics netball teammate

Kayla McAlister Kayla Ahki (née McAlister; born 6 August 1988) is a New Zealand netball and rugby sevens player. She has previously played for the Northern Mystics in 2011, and was a training partner in 2012, and currently plays for the New Zealand women's n ...

. Woodman debuted for the

Black Ferns The New Zealand women's rugby union team, called the Black Ferns, represents New Zealand in women's international rugby union, which is regarded as the country's national sport. The team has won six out of nine Women's Rugby World Cup tournamen ...

in 2013 against . She was included in the squad that won the

2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the sixth edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. The tournament was held at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia. New Zealand won the tournament, defeating England 33–0 in the final. Attendance for the tourname ...

in Russia. In 2015, Woodman was named the World Rugby Women's Sevens Player of the Year. In 2016, Woodman competed in

Rugby Sevens at the 2016 Summer Olympics Rugby sevens at the 2016 Summer Olympics was held over six days in August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. The 2016 Olympics was the debut for rugby sevens at the Summer Olympics, though rugby union was last played at the 1924 games. The usual laws of ...

. The Black Ferns were beaten by Australia in the final 24–17. Woodman was the top try scorer, scoring a total of 10 tries across the three-day tournament. She was named in the

2017 Women's Rugby World Cup The 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup was the eighth edition of the Women's Rugby World Cup and was held in Ireland in August 2017. New Zealand became the 2017 champions by beating England 41–32 in the final on 26 August. Matches were held in Dubl ...

squad. The Black Ferns went on to win the World Cup. Woodman scored the most points (65) and the most tries (13) during the tournament. Woodman was selected in the Black Ferns Sevens squad at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. The 2018 tournament was the first time that women's rugby sevens was contested at the Commonwealth Games. The Black Ferns won gold in extra-time, beating Australia 17–12. Woodman was named in the Black Ferns Sevens squad for the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. She won a bronze medal at the event. She was also part of the team that won a silver medal at the

Rugby World Cup Sevens Rugby World Cup Sevens (RWCS) is the quadrennial world championship of rugby sevens, a variant of rugby union. Organised by World Rugby, it currently consists of men's and women's tournaments, and is the highest level of competition in the sport ...

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. Woodman made the Black Ferns 32-player squad for the deferred

2021 Rugby World Cup The 2021 Rugby World Cup was the ninth staging of the women's Rugby World Cup, as organised by World Rugby. It was held from 8 October to 12 November 2022 in Auckland and Whangārei, New Zealand. It was originally scheduled to be held in 2021, ...

. She scored seven tries as the Black Ferns routed Japan 95–12 in their first encounter before the World Cup. In the Black Ferns opening match of the Rugby World Cup, Woodman scored a hat-trick against the

Wallaroos The Australia women's national rugby union team, also known as the Wallaroos, has competed at all Women's Rugby World Cups since 1998, with their best result finishing in third place in 2010. Australian women have been playing rugby since the ...

. She then scored a brace of tries against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

in the second pool game. When the Black Ferns faced Wales again in the quarterfinals, she scored her second double. In the World Cup final, Woodman was forced off the field after a head clash with

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

's winger,

Lydia Thompson Lydia Thompson (born Eliza Thompson; 19 February 1838 – 17 November 1908), was an English dancer, comedian, actor and theatrical producer. From 1852, as a teenager, she danced and performed in pantomimes, in the UK and then in Europe and soo ...

, in the 18th minute.

Personal life

Woodman comes from a sporting background with both her father, Kawhena, and her uncle,

Fred Woodman Fred Akehurst Woodman (born 10 February 1958) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. A wing, Woodman represented North Auckland at a provincial level, and was a member of the New Zealand national side, the All Blacks, in 1980 and 1981. He p ...

being former

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

. Her aunt

Te Aroha Keenan Te Aroha Keenan is a New Zealand former netball coach and member of the Silver Ferns in the 1980s. She later coached the Cook Islands national team at the 1999 Netball World Championships, as well as a multinational Team Pasifika in a test ser ...

is a former

Silver Fern ''Alsophila dealbata'', synonym ''Cyathea dealbata'', commonly known as the silver fern or silver tree-fern, or as ponga or punga (from Māori or ),The Māori word , pronounced , has been borrowed into New Zealand English as a generic term fo ...

. Of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

descent, Woodman affiliates to the

Ngāpuhi Ngāpuhi (or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland region of New Zealand and centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei. According to the 2018 New Zealand census, the estimated population of Ngāpuhi is 165, ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

. Woodman has been in a relationship with fellow Black Fern and World Cup winner

Renee Wickliffe Renee Woodman-Wickliffe (née Wickliffe; born 30 May 1987) is a New Zealand rugby union player. She represents and Auckland. She was in the squad that won the 2010 Rugby World Cup and the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens. Biography Wickliffe was ...

since 2013, and they married in December 2022. The couple have adopted the surname ''Woodman-Wickliffe''.

References

External links

* *
Black Ferns Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodman, Portia 1991 births Living people Rugby sevens players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic rugby sevens players of New Zealand New Zealand female rugby union players New Zealand women's international rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players New Zealand female rugby sevens players New Zealand women's international rugby sevens players New Zealand Māori rugby union players Rugby union wings Northern Mystics players New Zealand netball players Ngāpuhi people Olympic silver medalists for New Zealand Olympic medalists in rugby sevens Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Rugby sevens players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players of New Zealand Commonwealth Games gold medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games medallists in rugby sevens Olympic gold medalists for New Zealand Rugby sevens players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics New Zealand LGBT sportspeople LGBT rugby union players LGBT netball players New Zealand Māori netball players 20th-century New Zealand women 21st-century New Zealand women Rugby sevens players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games