The legendary sevens rival who ‘really challenged’ Maddison Levi

Try-scoring phenomenon Maddison Levi has credited Portia Woodman-Wickliffe as the player who “really challenged me” on the SVNS Series. Woodman-Wickliffe will go down in history as one of the sport’s greats after helping New Zealand win another Olympic gold in Paris.

It was an unforgettable end to a decorated sevens career worthy of applause and acclaim, with Woodman-Wickliffe previously announcing that she’d retire after those Games. Team NZ beat Canada 19-12 in the battle for gold as a sold-out Stade de France watched on in awe.

With the blow of the full-time whistle, Woodman-Wickliffe’s sevens career came to a triumphant end. For a player who had broken numerous individual records during that distinguished time in the black jersey, it was fitting to see the powerful winger bow out as a champion.

Woodman-Wickliffe won Player of the Year awards in sevens and 15s, was named the Sevens Player of the Decade in 2020, and became the first woman to score 250 tries in sevens about halfway through the 2023/24 HSBC SVNS Series season.

If there’s a ‘greatest of all time’ or ‘GOAT’ in women’s sevens, Australia’s Charlotte Caslick would also be in the conversion, but it’s hard to argue with Woodman-Wickliffe’s resume. Even rivals from across the Tasman Sea are full of praise for the colossus that Woodman-Wickliffe was.

Maddison Levi, who last week received the Shawn Mackay Award as Australia’s best women’s sevens player for a second year in a row, is arguably the face of the sport at the moment. Levi scores in just about every match, but even heroes have idols of their own.

“When I first started, Ellia Green was the one that got me into the sport, and then Portia Woodman was the one that really challenged me,” Levi told RugbyPass at the Rugby Australia Awards in Sydney last week.

“I remember in Oceania (Sevens) I chased her down and I didn’t tackle her, I couldn’t tackle back then, so I ran side-by-side to the line with her. Even recently she still comes up to me and she goes, ‘I remember when you chased me. I always have that on you.’

“Just having that banter but knowing she’s paved the way and she’s been up there at that level, and just to be able to be half as good as her – just the way she holds herself and the way she plays footy – she kept continuing to get better.

“Hopefully I can continue her legacy on but with my own name, I think that’d be pretty cool to be the next winger to go down.”

Woodman-Wickliffe won’t wear the black jersey again after once again insisting that international rugby was no longer on the cards moving forward. Last month, the 33-year-old signed with Blues Women ahead of the 2025 Super Rugby Aupiki season.

With the Women’s Rugby World Cup in England just around the corner, it makes sense that fans would call on Woodman-Wickliffe to don the famous jersey for one last tournament. But the woman herself has drawn a line through the sand.

“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 in Auckland.

“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 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. “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.”