Advertisement League of Ireland Horse Racing TV Listings GAA Fixtures The Video Review Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture Rugby Weekly Extra Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week The Football Family Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points Advertisement More Stories Alamy Stock Photo Black Ferns star Woodman-Wickliffe coming out of retirement for World Cup Woodman-Wickliffe is has won two World Cups and two Olympic gold medals. 1.34pm, 22 Apr 2025 Share options Former women’s world player of the year Portia Woodman-Wickliffe has come out of international retirement to play in the World Cup in August. A statement from New Zealand Rugby said that Woodman-Wickliffe, who retired after helping the Black Ferns to gold in the Paris Olympics last year, had signed an eight-month contract and would join the squad’s first World Cup gathering at the weekend. Advertisement The 33-year-old centre said that she had changed her mind while playing for the Auckland Blues in the New Zealand women’s championship, which they won on April 12. The Blues then beat the New South Wales Waratahs in the first women’s Super Rugby final. “Each week in campaign I thought about the possibility of how I could potentially go to the World Cup more and more,” she said in the statement. “I thought about what it would mean to me but most importantly my whanau (extended family in Maori). “When I said I was going to retire from sevens, it was based around having babies. 2025 was about exploring as many opportunities as I could so that when I do end up having them, I can say I’ve tried as much as I can.” Woodman-Wickliffe was part of the New Zealand teams that won the World Cup in 2017 and 2022, were sevens World Cup champions in 2013 and 2018, and won Olympic gold in 2021 in Tokyo and 2024 in Paris and silver in Rio in 2016. She was world rugby player of the year in 2017 and, in sevens, was named world player of the year in 2015 and player of the decade in 2020. This year’s World Cup will be played in England from August 22 to September 27. – © AFP 2025 Viewcomments Send Tip or Correction Embed this post To embed this post, copy the code below on your site Email “Black Ferns star Woodman-Wickliffe coming out of retirement for World Cup”. Recipient's Email Feedback on “Black Ferns star Woodman-Wickliffe coming out of retirement for World Cup”. Your Feedback Your Email (optional) Report a Comment Please select the reason for reporting this comment. Please give full details of the problem with the comment... This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy before taking part. Leave a Comment Submit a report Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines. 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