Simply The Best
It takes a great to know a great. Sir John Kirwan believes Portia Woodman has it all; agility, power, pace and balance.
“Pre-injury two years ago, she was the best winger in the world, male or female,” he says. “You get a lot of people with power, a lot with pace, a lot with agility but you don’t often get the whole package and that’s what she brings. Her timing’s really good when she steps or swerves, timing is fundamental.” Kirwan says.
When he watches sport Kirwan doesn’t see gender - he looks for ability and that’s why he had Woodman as the best winger going in 2018. The man seen as one of our greatest ever believes returning to and staying at the top gets tougher as a player’s career progresses.
“Across professional sports it’s the ability to take a break and work on your game, and that gets harder as you get older. The challenge will be how does she continue to train to have that complete package.”
With her eyes on a couple of World Cups, Super Rugby and the Commonwealth Games next year, Kirwan, like many in the world of rugby, can’t wait to watch Woodman in full flight on a regular basis again.
“It’ll be pretty special to see her back at that pre-injury level again.”