Star player's Kaikohe call happy homecoming

Pupils at Kaikohe East Primary School were disappointed the miserable weather stopped them having a running race against speedy women's rugby star Portia Woodman when she visited.

But the children were thrilled to be able to hold the trophies and try on rugby jerseys brought along for show and tell by the sevens World Cup's top-scoring women's player yesterday.

Ms Woodman's family has a strong association with the school she also attended for a short while as a child, with two cousins teaching there and several whanau among the pupils and other staff.

Ms Woodman visited several other schools in Kaikohe on Thursday and yesterday during a visit "home". Originally from Kaikohe, she moved to Auckland with her family in 1997 when her father, 1984 All Black Kawhena (Richard) Woodman, completed his teaching degree.

When one of the children in the Tumanako bilingual unit at Kaikohe East School asked Ms Woodman why she was so good at sport she said, "I think it's in the blood."

It was also in the training, she said, explaining her own regime included weights and resistance training.

Ms Woodman, who has been playing sevens for only a year was in the New Zealand women's team to win the inaugural women's sevens rugby World Cup in Moscow in May, which both the Kiwi women's and men's teams won. She had been top try scorer and points scorer in the IRB Women's Sevens World Series played in five countries.

"A month ago I was in Russia," she told the Kaikohe kids, and let them hold her Amsterdam crystal trophy for being top try scorer in the world tournament, a 24-carat gold medallion that all players got and the World Cup gold medal.

She had topped the try-scoring ranks with 12 at the World Cup.

A sporting dream run included her playing her first full 15-a-side rugby game when she debuted on the right wing for the Black Ferns against England at Eden Park in June.

The dynamic, fast player called "Porsche" as often as Portia was a top netball player, playing with the Mystics, before sevens took over as her number one sport a year ago.

When one of the pupils asked who the Black Ferns' toughest opponents were, Ms Woodman said it was England, a professional team. "Those players get paid fulltime to train and play."

In comparison the Black Ferns got only a test match fee, and there were only three tests a year.

Asked what was next in her sights, she said her aim was to play and win the sevens title at the next Olympic Games, in Rio in 2016.

Ms Woodman said other rugby stars had told her she "done it the wrong way around" - usually players went from 15s to sevens. She told the pupils it was very different playing with so many players on the field: "You have to create your own space."

"But 15s have given me a lot of knowledge about rugby."