New Zealand star Portia Woodman-Wickliffe has announced she will come out of international retirement and has set her sights on the 2025 World Cup.
Woodman-Wickliffe called time on her career with New Zealand after winning rugby sevens gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The 33-year-old winger rolled back on her initial decision after helping Blues Women to win Sky Super Rugby Aupiki, signing an eight-month contract.
“Each week in campaign I thought about the possibility of how I could potentially go to the World Cup more and more,” Woodman-Wickliffe said.
“I thought about what it would mean to me but most importantly my whanau [family]. I needed time to process everything and making myself available for this team is where I’ve landed.”
Woodman-Wickliffe is the record try-scorer in World Cup history and helped New Zealand to the title in 2017 and 2022.
She was named by World Rugby as sevens Player of the Year in 2015, Women’s Player of the Year (XVs) in 2017 and top women’s sevens Player of the Decade in 2020.
