Portia Woodman-Wickliffe’s clear stance on international retirement

Two-time Olympic gold medallist Portia Woodman-Wickliffe has ruled out playing for New Zealand again after signing with Blues Women for next year’s Super Rugby Aupiki season, confirming her retirement from international rugby.

On Tuesday, the Blues announced the signing of their marquee recruit, who is revered as one of the biggest names in the history of women’s rugby. Woodman-Wickliffe is both a SVNS Series icon and a two-time Rugby World Cup winner in 15s, and that’s not all either.

Woodman-Wickliffe broke record after record during a decorated international career. The destructive ball carrier has won Player of the Year awards in sevens and 15s, was named the Sevens Player of the Decade in 2020, and was the first woman to score 250 tries in sevens.

There are so many accolades to speak of, and that’s not even close to being everything, with the experienced campaigner stepping away from the black jersey as maybe the greatest woman to have ever played the game at the professional level.

But, all good things must come to an end. At 33 years of age, Woodman-Wickliffe has insisted that her retirement from the international game is final, and there will be no "tricky" U-turn to play for the Black Ferns at next year’s Rugby World Cup in England.

“Yes, I’ve retired, but I did a little bit different to my wife. I specified I was retiring from the black jersey which leaves open doors for other opportunities and this was one of them,” Woodman-Wickliffe told reporters.

“Right from the get-go, I wanted to come back to the Blues, play alongside my niece (Kerri Johnson). Talking to my wife Renee, she said she absolutely loved the experience. The young, vibrant girls, they’re a little bit young and it keeps her young as well so I wanted to be a part of it.

“… That’s going to be the tricky part because I am pretty adamant that I’m not playing for New Zealand purely because I want to play with freedom,” she added later. “I can’t play other opportunities. I want to play social netball and social touch, like those are the things that I’m really looking forward to.

“Being here in the Blues, I’m going to give them my absolute all, and if I step into another area of performance that I’m just going to be sticking with Super Rugby, club, FPC. I’m not really looking forward to the black jersey, I’ve done that, I’ve achieved what I wanted to achieve, but this is where I want to be.”

After a successful stint with Mie Pearls in Japan, the winger will return to Super Rugby Aupiki after playing for Chiefs Manawa. The New Zealander adds more experience, skill and prestige to a Blues squad that took out the title earlier this year.

That reality is scary for other teams in Super Rugby Aupiki – the Blues will likely be an even better outfit with Woodman-Wickliffe among their ranks. With a stone-cold demeanour on the field, the Blues’ new recruit is not one to be messed with on the rugby field of battle.

While Woodman-Wickliffe has definitively hung up the international boots, the rugby veteran is by no means done with the sport itself. “Without a doubt,” is how she instantly responded when asked if she sees herself playing for a few more years.

“My dad stopped playing rugby when he was like 55. If I get to that point, that’d be great, but I’m playing rugby as long as I can. As long as the body can handle it, I’m staying in there,” Woodman-Wickliffe insisted.

“FPC Super Rugby, all sorts of opportunities like club, I want to play all of it, I want to have fun. I played 10, 12 years of the seriousness of high-performance playing for your country… but now it’s like play rugby, have a good time, be with your mates.”