Do we like Portia Woodman-Wickliffe?
Our score: 8 out of 10. Nothing harmful turned up and plenty of visible good for girls in sport, but the record on wider causes is thin.
Portia Woodman-Wickliffe is from Kaikohe in Northland and came to rugby sideways. She was picked up in the 2012 Go For Gold talent search. Within a few years she was a star, and an NZ Herald columnist called her “the first winger since Jonah to be known by a single name”.
The numbers are silly. Reuters lists two Olympic golds, back-to-back Women's World Cup wins, two World Player of the Year awards and a record 22 World Cup tries. In 2025 she became the first New Zealander, male or female, to score 50 test tries. She retired after the Paris Olympics, came back for a third World Cup, and called it quits again in February 2026 at 34.
On the harm test, there's honestly not much to chew on. Searches on trans issues, women, race, vaccines and the climate turned up nothing from her that hurts anyone, and no dodgy company either. The NZ Herald column describes her as “out and proud” and open about who she is, on and off the field. The record on wider politics is thin, because she mostly talks about sport.
The recent news is all good. In June 2026 Time put her in the Icons category of its first 100 Most Influential People in Sports list. Her statement on retiring was understated: she feels excited and a little nervous about the next chapter, but ready.
The good stuff is about visibility. In October 2025 she became one of four rugby players turned into Barbie dolls for the UN's International Day of the Girl. The campaign was about keeping girls in sport. She said she knows the importance of visibility and told girls that staying in sport builds confidence.
In a January 2026 Fiji Times piece, her main theme was being authentically yourself. She also said that “Being a great human really helps the game”. Words are cheap, but she's put her face to a girls-in-sport campaign, and no scandal, lawsuit or accusation turned up in searches to cut against it.