Woodman-Wickliffe sets NZ try record in big win

Women’s Rugby World Cup – Pool C

New Zealand (38) 62

Tries: Woodman-Wickliffe, Miller 2, Vaha’akolo, Sorensen-McGee 3, Tukuafu, Pouri-Lane, Holmes Cons: Sorensen-McGee 4, Holmes 2

Japan (5) 19

Portia Woodman-Wickliffe became New Zealand’s outright record try-scorer as the legendary winger helped the Black Ferns secure a World Cup quarter-final spot with a 10-try win over Japan.

Woodman-Wickliffe, already her country’s women’s record try-scorer, needed just one more to move past Doug Howlett’s total of 49 tries and did so after 12 minutes in Exeter, beating two defenders to run in from 40 yards.

The score was also the 34-year-old’s record-extending 22nd try at World Cups, having come out of international retirement in April in a bid to win the competition for a third successive time.

Japan had actually taken a shock lead at Sandy Park through Sora Hatada’s try in the corner, but their lead was cancelled out by Woodman-Wickliffe’s score eight minutes later.

The Black Ferns dominated much of the rest of the match with 18-year-old Braxton Sorensen-McGee scoring an impressive hat-trick and Jorja Miller running in two solo tries.

Japan scored two further tries in the second half, the first through scrum-half Moe Tsukui and the second a late penalty try when Laura Bayfield was adjudged to have pulled the maul down.

It meant New Zealand finished the match with 14 players after Bayfield was shown a 20-minute red card for preventing Japan’s score.

The result extends New Zealand’s World Cup winning run to 14 matches, and sets up an intriguing final group-stage match with Ireland next Sunday (14:45 BST) to decide the winner of Pool C, with both sides on 10 points.

New Zealand: Sorensen-McGee; Woodman-Wickliffe, Fluhler, Brunt, Vaha’akolo; Demant, Pouri-Lane; Viliko, Ponsonby, Kalounivale, Roos, Bremner, Miller, Tukuafu, Sae

Replacements: Lolohea, Henwood, Mahutariki-Fakalelu, Bayfield, Mikaele-Tu’u, Joseph, Holmes, Setefano

Japan: Nishimura; Hatada, Furuta, Hirotsu, Imakugi; Otsuka, Moe; Kato, Kuge, Kitano, Sato, Yoshimura, Kawamura, Nagata, Saito

Referee: Aurelie Groizeleau (France)

Assistant referees: Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa) and Jess Ling (Australia)