41 Facts About Portia Woodman

Portia Woodman-Wickliffe is a New Zealand rugby union player.

Portia Woodman plays fifteen-a-side and seven-a-side rugby union, and was a member of the New Zealand women's national rugby sevens team and New Zealand women's national rugby union team.

Portia Woodman retired from international sevens rugby after the Paris Olympics.

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

In May 2024, Portia Woodman became the first woman to score 250 tries in the Sevens Series.

Portia Woodman was born in Kawakawa on 12 July 1991 to Kathryn and Kawhena Woodman.

Portia Woodman came from a sporting background with both her father, Kawhena and her uncle, Fred Portia Woodman being former All Blacks.

Portia Woodman's aunt Te Aroha Keenan is a former Silver Fern.

Portia Woodman's speed was noticed at school and she was encouraged into athletics.

The seven year old Portia Woodman remembers being distraught at the move away from her familiar environment.

Portia Woodman's first after school activity was ballet and it wasn't until a year later that after hearing that she was a fast runner that the coach of a boys team asked her to join his rugby team.

When Portia Woodman was nine, she watched a replay of Jonah Lomu on TV playing against the English team in the 1995 World Cup and proclaimed to her father that she wanted to be the female Jonah Lomu.

Portia Woodman had hopes of representing her country in athletics at the Olympics and participated in the sport from the age of 10 until she was approximately 17 years old.

Over summer weekends Portia Woodman would compete for Takapuna Athletics Club at athletic events.

Portia Woodman considered netball to be the only team sport which offered her best opportunity to play sport professionally.

Portia Woodman's ability led to her being selected as a development player for the Northern Mystics before being joining their senior squad in 2012.

Portia Woodman played in the Trans-Tasman Netball League and in 2011 was selected for the Netball New Zealand development squad.

Portia Woodman became aware of the initiative via an ad on Facebook which induced both Portia Woodman and her friend Kayla McAlister at the Northern Mystics to attend a trial.

At her sevens International debut at the 2012 Oceania Women's Sevens Championship in Fiji she broke her shoulder in her very first game, as she didn't know how to tackle correctly and a woman Portia Woodman tackled landed on top of her.

Portia Woodman was however able to continue to play in the rest of the games at the tournament.

Portia Woodman's injury resulted in her not being able to play in the national provincial netball competition and no longer being invited to trials by the Mystics.

Portia Woodman took this as a sign and worried she would miss out on the opportunities developing in rugby she decided to fully concentrate on rugby.

Portia Woodman was the top try and points scorer in the series with 105 points from 21 tries.

Portia Woodman went on to be a member of the team when it won the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Russia.

In 2015, Portia Woodman was named the World Rugby Women's Sevens Player of the Year.

In 2016, Portia Woodman was a member of the New Zealand Sevens team that competed at the Rugby sevens at the Rio Olympics.

Portia Woodman was the top try scorer, scoring a total of 10 tries across the three-day tournament.

Portia Woodman was a member of the fifteen-a-side Black Ferns team for the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup squad.

Portia Woodman scored the most points and the most tries during the tournament.

Portia Woodman was selected in the New Zealand Sevens squad at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Portia Woodman ruptured her Achilles tendon while stepping back during a training session at Mount Maunganui in October 2018.

Portia Woodman returned to sevens in November 2019 at the Oceania championships, only to injure her hamstring again in the final against Australia while chasing down Sariah Paki.

Portia Woodman was then one of the Sevens players to take up the option to play fifteen-a-side rugby.

Portia Woodman moved back to stay with an aunt on her farm while over the next three months she played club rugby for the Kaikohe club and national provincial rugby for the Northland Kauri women's team.

Between rugby commitments Portia Woodman was able to carry on with her building apprenticeship by working with her uncles in Northland.

Portia Woodman was a member of the New Zealand Sevens team that won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics which was held in July 2021.

Portia Woodman was named in the Black Ferns Sevens squad for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Portia Woodman was part of the team that won a silver medal at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town.

Portia Woodman made the Black Ferns 32-player squad for the deferred 2021 Rugby World Cup.

Portia Woodman then scored a brace of tries against Wales in the second pool game.

Portia Woodman has been in a relationship with fellow Black Fern and World Cup winner Renee Wickliffe since 2013, and they married in December 2022.