Latest news with #KatelynVahaakolo
CNA
26-05-2025
- Sport
- CNA
Magnificent seven for Portia as New Zealand make statement ahead of World Cup
SYDNEY :Portia Woodman-Wickliffe's return from retirement paid big dividends for New Zealand at the weekend when the veteran winger scored seven tries to help the world champions thrash the United States 79-14 and retain the Pacific Four title. Katelyn Vahaakolo on the other wing chipped in with four tries but it was Woodman-Wickliffe who caught the eye with some devastating finishing as the Black Ferns produced a statement win three months before their Women's World Cup title defence. The 33-year-old, who was playing her first test since the 2022 World Cup final after coming out of retirement in April, also overhauled Vanessa Coutts as her country's all-time leading try scorer with 45 five-pointers in 26 internationals. "It's always amazing to represent the black jersey and the legacy that we have, but it's really cool for where we can go from here," twice World Player of the Year Woodman-Wickliffe said. "For me, I just finish what the girls are doing, if I'm there to finish the tries out wide, then that's my job done. We've still got a lot of work to do as a whole team, which is really exciting." After drawing 27-27 in their last outing against Canada, New Zealand needed to beat the U.S. by 25 points and earn a bonus point on Saturday to retain the Pacific Four title. Despite the Americans scoring the first try, that proved no problem at Auckland's North Harbour Stadium with sevens standout Jorja Miller also on fire on her test debut at openside flanker. Canada earlier also finished the tournament unbeaten after putting sixth-ranked Australia to the sword 45-7 with a clinical performance at Brisbane's Lang Park. The powerful Canadian pack quickly dented the confidence Australia had built up after beating the U.S. 27-19 in Canberra last week as they signalled they will be no pushovers in England in August and September. "Obviously we would have loved to get that win against New Zealand last weekend, but we had to move on," said Canada captain Alex Tessier. "Overall I was very proud of the girls today. It was a decent win. We put a lot of points on the board." New Zealand, who have won six of the nine previous Women's World Cups but are ranked third in the world behind World Cup hosts England and Canada, next play Australia for a second time this year in Wellington on July 12.
Reuters
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Magnificent seven for Portia as New Zealand make statement ahead of World Cup
SYDNEY, May 26 (Reuters) - Portia Woodman-Wickliffe's return from retirement paid big dividends for New Zealand at the weekend when the veteran winger scored seven tries to help the world champions thrash the United States 79-14 and retain the Pacific Four title. Katelyn Vahaakolo on the other wing chipped in with four tries but it was Woodman-Wickliffe who caught the eye with some devastating finishing as the Black Ferns produced a statement win three months before their Women's World Cup title defence. The 33-year-old, who was playing her first test since the 2022 World Cup final after coming out of retirement in April, also overhauled Vanessa Coutts as her country's all-time leading try scorer with 45 five-pointers in 26 internationals. "It's always amazing to represent the black jersey and the legacy that we have, but it's really cool for where we can go from here," twice World Player of the Year Woodman-Wickliffe said. "For me, I just finish what the girls are doing, if I'm there to finish the tries out wide, then that's my job done. We've still got a lot of work to do as a whole team, which is really exciting." After drawing 27-27 in their last outing against Canada, New Zealand needed to beat the U.S. by 25 points and earn a bonus point on Saturday to retain the Pacific Four title. Despite the Americans scoring the first try, that proved no problem at Auckland's North Harbour Stadium with sevens standout Jorja Miller also on fire on her test debut at openside flanker. Canada earlier also finished the tournament unbeaten after putting sixth-ranked Australia to the sword 45-7 with a clinical performance at Brisbane's Lang Park. The powerful Canadian pack quickly dented the confidence Australia had built up after beating the U.S. 27-19 in Canberra last week as they signalled they will be no pushovers in England in August and September. "Obviously we would have loved to get that win against New Zealand last weekend, but we had to move on," said Canada captain Alex Tessier. "Overall I was very proud of the girls today. It was a decent win. We put a lot of points on the board." New Zealand, who have won six of the nine previous Women's World Cups but are ranked third in the world behind World Cup hosts England and Canada, next play Australia for a second time this year in Wellington on July 12.
CBC
24-05-2025
- Sport
- CBC
Canadian women lose Pacific Four Series rugby title to New Zealand on a tiebreaker
Winger Portia Woodman-Wickliffe entered the record books with seven tries Saturday as the New Zealand Black Ferns thumped the U.S. 79-14 to dethrone Canada as Pacific Four Series rugby champion on a tiebreaker. Second-ranked Canada and No. 3 New Zealand, who played to a dramatic 27-27 draw last Saturday, both finished with 13 points at 2-0-1. The Canadian women wrapped up play Friday with a 45-7 win over No. 6 Australia in Brisbane. Given the draw between Canada and New Zealand, the title was decided by the second tiebreaker — points differential. The Black Ferns went into the tournament finale with a points differential of plus-26, trailing Canada's plus-50. First-half hat tricks by Woodman-Wickliffe and fellow winger Katelyn Vahaakolo ended the drama quickly. Woodman-Wickliffe, 33, who has come out of international retirement after stepping away after winning her second rugby sevens gold at the Paris Olympics, added four more tries in the second half to become the Black Ferns' all-time leading try-scorer with 45. Vahaakolo finished with four tries for New Zealand, which led 34-14 at the half at North Harbour Stadium, as the Black Ferns upped their point differential to plus-91. The ninth-ranked U.S. women (0-3-0) finished fourth behind Australia (1-2-0). Canada opened tournament play with a 26-14 win over the U.S. on May 2 in Kansas City. All four Pacific Four Series teams are preparing for the World Cup, which kicks off Aug. 22 in England. The Canadians have been drawn in Pool B with No. 7 Scotland, No. 10 Wales and No. 16 Fiji. Canada could face Australia in the quarterfinals and New Zealand in the World Cup semifinal with No. 1 England, the tournament favourite, expected to be waiting in the final. Next Up Canada's next games are against No. 12 South Africa in Pretoria on July 5 and Gqeberha on July 12. Its final tune-up is Aug. 9 against No. 5 Ireland in Belfast. Canada won last year's Pacific Four Series with its first-ever victory over New Zealand, defeating the Black Ferns 22-19 in Christchurch. The Canadian women had lost all 17 meetings with New Zealand before that. Canada also won the inaugural Pacific Four Series in 2021, when the event consisted of a two-game series with the U.S. due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. The Canadians finished runner-up to New Zealand in 2022 and 2023 when the competition was expanded to four teams. Canada is 12-5-1 since losing 36-0 to France in the third-place game at the last World Cup in November 2022. Four of those losses were to England, with the other to New Zealand.
CTV News
24-05-2025
- Sport
- CTV News
Canadian women lose Pacific Four Series rugby title to New Zealand on a tiebreaker
Portia Woodman-Wickliffe of New Zealand in action during HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2024 in Singapore on Sunday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah) AUCKLAND — Winger Portia Woodman-Wickliffe entered the record books with seven tries Saturday as the New Zealand Black Ferns thumped the U.S. 79-14 to dethrone Canada as Pacific Four Series rugby champion on a tiebreaker. Second-ranked Canada and No. 3 New Zealand, who played to a dramatic 27-27 draw last Saturday, both finished with 13 points at 2-0-1. The Canadian women wrapped up play Friday with a 45-7 win over No. 6 Australia in Brisbane. Given the draw between Canada and New Zealand, the title was decided by the second tiebreaker — points differential. The Black Ferns went into the tournament finale with a points differential of plus-26, trailing Canada's plus-50. First-half hat tricks by Woodman-Wickliffe and fellow winger Katelyn Vahaakolo ended the drama quickly. Woodman-Wickliffe, 33, who has come out of international retirement after stepping away after winning her second rugby sevens gold at the Paris Olympics, added four more tries in the second half to become the Black Ferns' all-time leading try-scorer with 45. Vahaakolo finished with four tries for New Zealand, which led 34-14 at the half at North Harbour Stadium, as the Black Ferns upped their point differential to plus-91. The ninth-ranked U.S. women (0-3-0) finished fourth behind Australia (1-2-0). Canada opened tournament play with a 26-14 win over the U.S. on May 2 in Kansas City. All four Pacific Four Series teams are preparing for the World Cup, which kicks off Aug. 22 in England. The Canadians have been drawn in Pool B with No. 7 Scotland, No. 10 Wales and No. 16 Fiji. Canada could face Australia in the quarterfinals and New Zealand in the World Cup semifinal with No. 1 England, the tournament favourite, expected to be waiting in the final. Canada's next games are against No. 12 South Africa in Pretoria on July 5 and Gqeberha on July 12. Its final tune-up is Aug. 9 against No. 5 Ireland in Belfast. Canada won last year's Pacific Four Series with its first-ever victory over New Zealand, defeating the Black Ferns 22-19 in Christchurch. The Canadian women had lost all 17 meetings with New Zealand before that. Canada also won the inaugural Pacific Four Series in 2021, when the event consisted of a two-game series with the U.S. due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. The Canadians finished runner-up to New Zealand in 2022 and 2023 when the competition was expanded to four teams. Canada is 12-5-1 since losing 36-0 to France in the third-place game at the last World Cup in November 2022. Four of those losses were to England, with the other to New Zealand. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 24, 2025. The Canadian Press
BBC News
24-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Woodman-Wickliffe's seven tries seals NZ record & title
Portia Woodman-Wickliffe became New Zealand's all-time leading try scorer with seven against the United States to help her side reclaim the Pacific Four Series Canada's 45-7 win over Australia in Brisbane on Friday, the Black Ferns had to beat the Eagles by 25 points with a four-try bonus they duly scored 13 tries on Saturday to claim a crushing 79-14 success in Albany, was sensational, taking her overall try tally to 45 from 26 Tests and surpassing Vanessa Coutts' record of 43 in Vaha'akolo crossed four times on the opposite wing to take her tally to 23 tries in 16 Tests as New Zealand regained the Pacific Four Series crown from 2024 winners Canada. Woodman-Wickliffe is the record try scorer in World Cup history and helped the Black Ferns win the tournament in 2017 and 33-year-old retired after winning rugby sevens gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics but reversed that decision last month, with an eye on another World Cup win in England this summer. The Black Ferns led 34-14 at half-time, with Freda Tafuna and Hope Rogers scoring the USA's two hosts then scored 45 unanswered points in the second half, with Ruahei Demant and Stacey Waaka also touching Zealand and Canada both won in round one before playing out a thrilling 27-27 draw last week.
