Portia Woodman scorched across for eight of New Zealand’s 19 tries as they shredded Hong Kong 121-0 at the women’s Rugby World Cup in Dublin.
The flying winger was virtually unstoppable as the four-time champions unleashed their attacking flair against out-matched opposition.
Hong Kong had lost their opener 98-0 to Canada and their defence was prised open effortlessly by a New Zealand side coming off a 44-12 win over Wales.
The Black Ferns threatened to eclipse their own record for the biggest win at the tournament, achieved when they crushed Germany 134-6 in Amsterdam in 1998. It was the third time they have raised a century at the tournament.
Woodman’s try haul at Billings Park is believed to be a tournament match record for a player.
Four of the flying winger’s tries came in the last 10 minutes as her pace simply left flagging defenders in her wake in long-range streaks to the tryline.
A humble Woodhouse had plenty of praise for her teammates.
“A little bit knackered. I think we were doing a conditioning session after a while. It’s all down to the girls on the inside. They’re working in the middle and I get all the glory at the end just to finish it off.”
“The score does reflect our work but for Hong Kong it doesn’t reflect what they were doing. They worked hard on defence and attack and they just kept going right up to the 80th minute. Unfortunately it doesn’t reflect how hard they were working.”
There were 10 other Black Ferns tryscorers, with 16 of their tally scored by backs.
Halfback Kendra Cocksedge snared one of them and kicked 13 conversions in a 31-point return.
Captain and hooker Fiao’o Faamausili enjoyed watching the entertainment unfold outside her.
“We used our wingers really well, we know we have speed out wide and we wanted to use it,” she said.
“Portia Woodman is amazing, she’s a sprinter and we’re always trying to catch up with her.”
Because of their massive points differential, New Zealand are virtually guaranteed a place in the semi-finals, regardless the result of their last pool game against world No.3 Canada on Thursday.
The Canadians beat Wales 15-0 to join New Zealand, defending champions England, the United States and Ireland as unbeaten teams after two rounds of matches.
