New Zealand rugby player Portia Woodman-Wickliffe. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Black Ferns' flyer Portia Woodman-Wickliffe admits there is a mix of "excitement and nerves" as she prepares to start a new chapter with the national team.
On Saturday, the 33-year-old will play her first test in almost three years after being named to start on the right wing for the Black Ferns' Pacific Four Series showdown with Canada.
Last month, it was revealed she was stepping away from retirement so she could push for a third World Cup campaign.
Head coach Allan Bunting confirmed Woodman-Wickliffe would line up for her 25th test at Christchurch's Apollo Projects Stadium as the side continues its pre-tournament programme.
Ayesha Leti-I'iga who donned the number 14 jersey during their win over Australia at the weekend will shift to the left wing against the Maple Leafs.
Speaking to media after the team was announced on Thursday, the returning star said she was thrilled to be back.
"Really excited, really nervous," she said.
"I think the last time we played in Christchurch it hailed so I'm hoping, and praying to the weather gods that they'll put on an awesome game for us.
"For me, I'm just really excited to be back in the black jersey again and to play alongside these girls again."
It will mark her first Black Ferns' appearance since the World Cup final in 2022, in which she was forced from the field with concussion, following a head-on-head clash with English opposite Lydia Thompson.
Black Ferns wing Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and front-rower Amy Rule. Photo: RNZ / Adam Burns
Woodman-Wickcliffe's international reversal offers her an opportunity to rewrite her final act in the test arena.
"I don't take anything away from my 17 minutes I had on the field and all the games leading up to that point," she said.
"Yes, the concussion was really scary at the time but I was grateful for that experience. To have a World Cup at home, those memories were amazing.
"And now I get this next opportunity to play for New Zealand that doesn't come round often. If this is just the start of the journey towards the World Cup then amazing, but if I don't get there, cool kei te pai."
Courtesy of a phenomenal strike rate of 38 tries in 24 tests, Woodman-Wickliffe is only two five pointers away from becoming just the third Black Fern to notch up 200 test points.
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Due to her involvement at the 2022 Commonwealth Games with the sevens team, her only preparation in 15s prior to the last World Cup was a warm-up game against Japan, where Woodman-Wickcliffe ran in seven tries.
"I'm grateful, I've got so much more time than last time. We've got this series, we've got the O'Reilly Cup, we've got two more camps. We've got a lot more build up and I'm going to need it," she said.
It will also give her time to readjust to the outside channels, after starring in the midfield during the Blues maiden Aupiki triumph earlier this year.
Her fellow Blues team-mate and Black Ferns co-captain Ruahei Demant said she was delighted she was back in the Ferns fold.
"Wherever she is on the field, she's a threat and she attracts so many defenders," she said.
"She's a powerful player, she's a fast player and that's what people see, but what I've noticed is how much her rugby IQ has grown. I don't think she realises how much it's grown.
"She's continuing to evolve, and she's still world-leading and world class in my opinion."
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