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‘It’s our superpower’: Blues captain on what sets the team apart
By Henry Lee
The 2025 edition of Super Rugby Aupiki concluded on Saturday evening, where Willie Walker’s Blues side won back-to-back titles.
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They followed up their 2024 triumph with another title, this time against a strong Matatu side that pushed the Blues to the end in Auckland.
Walker’s side was helped by the experience of last year’s final, with experienced players like Maia Roos, Ruahei Demant and Eloise Blackwell there to help the Blues over the line.
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Roos, who brought up her 20th Blues cap a couple of weeks back, was proud of the way her team fought back in a game they started slowly in.
“Matatu came out of the blocks so fast, it was actually a bit of a shock. We had to work really hard for the ball that we did have,” Roos told media post-match at Eden Park in Auckland.
“I’m sore right now, it was so physical, but I’m just so proud of our girls. We played together, even with the man down, and even when that happened, I think we had no doubt that we could still get the result.”
Roos explained that her team’s connection is what sets them apart, calling it their ‘superpower’.
“One of our superpowers is our connection. That’s one of our values as well and that just showed in the big moments tonight.
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“I’m getting goosebumps thinking about those big moments, every time we had a break, we just said we need to win the next moment.
“I think we did that effectively, we had girls step up in those moments. “I’m so proud of every individual person, and I’m proud of our system as a team.
Roos pinpoints their defensive effort to keep Matatu quiet in the second half as one of the more important moments, understanding that the pressure was on.
“It was just heart, we needed to defend with our heart when we had one person down, we knew we needed to get off the line.
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“We had a strategy to hold them up over the line, and we executed that really well, I’m proud of that.
“We just knew that we had to fight for each other in those moments, and we executed.”
Walker couldn’t talk more highly of two players at different ends of their careers, with both Woodman-Wickliffe and Braxton Sorensen-McGee impressing throughout the season, especially in the final.
They’re generational players. We’re lucky that we’ve got a few of them on our side, to be fair. What Portia has done speaks for itself—the experience she has and those big moments that she’s had through her career. And then Braxton, just starting, I think she’s got plenty of those to come.” Walker told media post-match.
“So it’s a pretty cool thing, someone as young as Braxton, who grew up watching Portia play, and she got an opportunity to play alongside her and play really well and not look out of place.”
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Great game ladies
They were very strong defensively- and that move at the end where they held up Pip Love so close to the line was standout.
Great game