A thrill was felt throughout the Mid North for many watching the New Zealand Women's Sevens team winning the inaugural world championship title for the first time in Moscow on Sunday (NZ time), the strong local interest provided by the side's star player Portia Woodman.
She's a household name across the nation as well now, thanks to the highlights reels of the victory on the evening news on Monday night beginning with a stunning try which saw Woodman sell the farm to the entire Canadian backline, leaving it flat-footed as she ran more than 40m to score in a sublime individual effort.
There's no doubting that Woodman is a highly respected name in Far North rugby circles and the legend was certainly done no harm by Portia who scored 12 tries at the event, including two in the final, where New Zealand beat Canada by 29-12. NZRU spokesman Mike Jaspers was in Russia with the side and noted Woodman simply proved too much of a handful for any opposition, was devastating on attack with a mesmerising sidestep that bewildered anyone trying to tackle her.
The girl from Kaikohe proved far more humble about her achievements even after receiving the player of the tournament and top try scorer awards.
"Amazing, I can't explain it, a year ago I never thought I would be here," said Portia after the final. Of her 12 tries: "That's my job, the forwards get the ball and my job is to finish it. It probably comes from netball as well, and it's nice when it comes off well. I have been watching [teammate] Kelly Brazier, we just watch and learn from her ... but team work is the most important thing."
The daughter of Kawhena and Kathryn (nee Dalton), Portia grew up in Kaikohe before her family relocated to Auckland. She never played much rugby as a youngster but was soon excelling at national secondary school athletics, particularly the 100 and 200m sprints while attending Mount Albert Grammar. She went on to become a training partner with the Northern Mystics in 2010 and '11 seasons, made the squad proper last year and it was there that she was shoulder-tapped - along with Mystics teammate and good friend Kayla McAlister - by New Zealand women's sevens manager Sean Horan, who was out talent spotting during the Go for Gold programme as part of the build up towards the upcoming Rio Olympics.
Right now Wooodman's looking forward to making her debut with the Black Ferns XV playing England in the three-test series at Eden Park starting next Saturday, July 13. Athletics. Netball. Sevens. Rugby. All at elite level. Hmmm ... hard not to detect a theme here. Earlier this week, Portia told Herald reporter Andrew Alderson she had learned a thing or two from her renowned All Black father.
"They've been a massive influence for me as well as my older and younger brothers. We're all diehard rugby fans but my ultimate goal is the Olympics," she said after the world cup win. She noted her parents weren't able to travel to Russia to watch her play because they were saving up to travel to Brazil in 2016 but her father was not surprised to see his daughter excelling at multiple levels.
"She's got all the fundamentals down, good hand-eye contact. And she's a sprinter which puts her in a really good place to play rugby," Kawhena said, adding that his advice had always been for Portia to focus on making a career in professional sport such as netball - and now women's sevens with the sport going on the Olympics dancecard for the first time. That or, "Get a proper job!"
"You spend a whole lot of hours doing something you love so it's always fabulous to be paid money to do it," said Kawhena, "compared to us playing rugby in the '80s, we'd get a little bit of petrol money and a couple of bottles of beer."
A code cracker (as Alderson described her) but not in the mercenary sense of a player like Sonny Bill Williams, as both the sevens and fifteens games for women remain at amateur status in New Zealand, at least compared with other countries like Canada and the USA. Asked if any attempts had been by outside nations made to poach some of the new world champions' players, Kawhena said, "Good luck! This crop of girls like Portia are Aotearoa hard!"
And, he noted, Portia, like her parents and grandparents, regarded the Far North as their home. "Absolutely. We are Kaikohe people living in Auckland. She'd be the same. For her, it's always Kaikohe and Tai Tokerau."
Obviously the feelings been reciprocated if the "awesome" reaction from the Far North family and followers on various social networks is anything to judge by. For the record, Kawhena's still playing rugby at president's grade for the club near his Glenfield home.
NZ on top of the worldThe women's sevens victory was achieved in challenging conditions in the Russian capital as heavy rain poured down on finals day, turning the giant Luzhniki Stadium into a quagmire.
Afterwards, with both the All Blacks men's and women's sevens teams celebrating their coronation as world champions, NZRU CEO Steve Tew noted this was the first time all four rugby world cups have been held by one country: "This really is an extraordinary moment in time for New Zealand rugby."
New Zealand were easily the form team of the women's tournament in Moscow, conceding only one try in pool play and just five during the finals. The team downed England in the quarter-final 24-7 and eased past the USA 19-10.
Both teams were expected to arrive to a warm and rapturous reception from family friends and media at Auckland Airport at 1pm yesterday.
- Additional reporting Andrew Alderson of NZ Herald