WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand women's rugby star Portia Woodman-Wickliffe is retiring for a second time at the age of 34.
The two-time World Women's Player of the Year who won gold medals in rugby sevens at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics announced her decision Thursday.
Woodman-Wickliffe came out of a short retirement to play for New Zealand's Black Ferns at the Women's World Cup in Britain last year.
“I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to represent my country, my iwi (tribe), my hapū and my whānau (family) one last time on the World Cup stage, a moment I will cherish forever," she said in a statement. “As I step into this next chapter of my life, I feel both excited and a little nervous, but I’m ready.”
Woodman-Wickliffe excelled at track and netball before switching to rugby in 2012, competing at Rio de Janeiro in 2016 when rugby sevens became an Olympic sport for the first time. New Zealand won the silver medal that year.
Her father and uncle both were All Blacks.
She played 241 times for New Zealand on the World Sevens Series, scoring 256 tries and in 2020 was named the women's sevens player of the previous decade.
Woodman-Wickliffe was also a member of New Zealand teams which won the Rugby World Cup in 2017 and 2022.
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
FILE - Portia Woodman-Wickliffe of New Zealand in action during HSBC rugby sevens series in Singapore, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah, File)
What's been increasingly apparent to despairing Tottenham fans for some months is now suddenly clear for everyone: their team could genuinely be relegated from the Premier League.
Spurs have been regarded for some time as part of England's so-called “Big Six” — so much so that they were involved in the quickly aborted Super League project in 2021 — but they aren't playing like it, at least in the Premier League.
Last season, Tottenham finished in 17th place, one spot above the bottom three, but was never in realistic danger of relegation.
This season, the danger is real. Tottenham is in 16th place but just four points above the relegation zone with 11 rounds remaining and is the only team in the league without a win in 2026 heading into a match at Fulham on Sunday.
The only victories this calendar year have come in the Champions League, which Tottenham finished in the top eight after the first stage to advance directly to the round of 16.
Spurs — the Europa League winners last season — haven't been able to reproduce their European exploits in the Premier League, with their shortcomings exposed in a 4-1 thrashing by fierce rival Arsenal last weekend. That was Igor Tudor 's first match in charge of Tottenham and it laid bare the scale of the task facing the Croatian, who replaced Thomas Frank at the helm.
Tudor has a long injury list to deal with — among the top players on it are James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Lucas Bergvall and Pedro Porro — as well as confidence issues within the squad. Do they have the stomach for a relegation battle?
Also going against Tottenham is the fact that third-to-last West Ham is showing more resilience in recent weeks, losing just one of its eight games in all competitions.
It doesn't help, either, that while Spurs are at a low ebb, Arsenal is currently the top team in England.
Tottenham has been an ever-present in the Premier League since the competition was founded in 1992, and last played in the second tier in the 1977-78 season.
The title race resumes with first-place Arsenal at home to Chelsea. They recently met over two legs in the English League Cup semifinals and Arsenal won both games.
Manchester City is five points behind in second place, though has a game in hand, and is away to Leeds. That sees City striker Erling Haaland return to the city where he was born.
Manchester United striker Benjamin Sesko will be looking to score in a third straight game when Crystal Palace visits Old Trafford. Sesko scored an equalizer against West Ham and then a winner at Everton, both times off the bench.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot will hope for positive news about Germany playmaker Florian Wirtz, who missed the win at Nottingham Forest last weekend because of back pain.
Liverpool hosts West Ham on Saturday.
It seems Crystal Palace and its manager, Oliver Glasner, are heading toward a messy break-up.
Glasner, who led Palace to its first ever trophy last season by winning the FA Cup, has already confirmed he's leaving his job at the end of the season and has been non-committal about whether he would even be staying that long.
Fans held up a banner containing the words, “Fans disrespected — Glasner finished” during a match against Wolverhampton last weekend.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Tottenham's head coach Igor Tudor, second right, speaks to his players during the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal in London, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026.(AP Photo/Ian Walton)
Tottenham's head coach Igor Tudor reacts during the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal in London, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026.(AP Photo/Ian Walton)
Tottenham's head coach Igor Tudor gestures during the English Premier League soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal in London, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026.(AP Photo/Ian Walton)
