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Super Rugby Aupiki Form XV: Who stood out in 2025?
By Adam Julian
The Blues successfully defended the Super Rugby Aupiki title by winning more games and scoring more points and tries than any other side.
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The Blues won a thrilling final at Eden Park against Matatu 26-19. It took some brilliant individual moments from the Blues to prevail against a highly organised, dogged Southern opposition. But which individual players prevailed from their performances this season?
Here are 15 players who stood out in their positions across the season:
15. Braxton Sorensen-McGee (Blues) – Poached the intercept which won the Blues the final, aiding two line breaks and a try-saving tackle to her heroic exploits. Ranked inside the top ten of Aupiki for tries and clean breaks, topping the metres gained count with 557.
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The 18-year-old from Auckland Girls’ Grammar School helped Auckland win the Farah Palmer Cup (FPC) Premiership in 2022. She boldly told LockerRoom she wants to be a triple international in rugby union, rugby league, and sevens. Who would bet against her on the evidence of Aupiki?
14. Winnie Palamo (Matatu) – Was named Canterbury’s Most Promising player after a stellar FPC season, scoring eight tries in six games. Palamo carried on that momentum in Aupiki with five tries, including the first in the final. Versatile, brave and fast, Palamo ranked second for metres gained, third in clean breaks and ninth in offloads.
Chiefs Manawa and Black Ferns winger Ruby Tui finished Aupiki as the leading try scorer and was excellent throughout the season.
13. Portia Woodman-Wickliffe (Blues) -In the twilight of her incomparable career, Woodman-Wickliffe was awesome, ranking in the top ten for tries (5), points (25), carries (73), clean breaks (9), and metres gained (495).
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With 46 defenders beaten, she ranked a dozen ahead of the next-best player, Matatu’s similarly outstanding Amy de Plessis. A few of those would-be tacklers were cast aside when Woodman-Wickliffe scored a try close to full-time to help the Blues beat Chiefs Manawa 24-22 in round two at Eden Park.
The Blues had three yellow cards in that game and only led after that moment; it’s a big reason why they were in the final, where Woodman-Wickliffe thrived, scoring a try and snatching the intercept which finally sunk Matatu’s stoic challenge. Will we see Woodman-Wickliffe in the Farah Palmer Cup? Maybe even the Rugby World Cup?
12. Ruahei Demant (Blues) – Played every minute of the season and ranked inside the top ten for tries, points, clean breaks, and offloads. Demant was close to the best player in the final, scoring the Blues’ first try when the hosts were down 12-0 and creating a try with a freakish offload to Woodman-Wickliffe – a score from which the Blues took a lead they never relinquished. Showed a cool head in the dying stages with some intelligent tactical kicking to relieve pressure.
11. Ayesha Leti-I’iga (Hurricanes Poua) – It was a dire season for the Poua, failing to win a single game, but that didn’t prevent Leti-I’iga from being damaging when the change arose. She ranked inside the top ten for metres gained (365), defenders beaten (25), and offloads (9). Her try in a 24-43 defeat by Matatu was electric. Remarkably, Leti-I’iga played for her beloved club, Oriental Rongotai, a week after the Hurricanes’ Aupiki season ended. She scored four tries to take her tally to an astonishing 198 tries in 84 games.
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10. Hannah King (Matatu) – Showed growing signs of authority with a generally consistent season, finishing the top points scorer with 51. Her display in Matatu’s 37-29 win over the Blues on March 29 was especially solid. It remains to be seen if the Black Ferns retain King at first five or switch Demant back to ten, where she played in the 2022 Rugby World Cup triumph.
9. Maia Joseph (Matatu) – Matatu threw the kitchen sink at the Blues, who refused to crack in the final. Would Joseph, who left the field injured after half an hour, have made a difference? Her replacement, Kelsyn McCook, merely distributed. Joseph has more layers to her game than that with her standout performance in Matatu’s win against the Blues. She delivered the last pass in three out of Matatu’s five tries.
Risi Pouri-Lane has declared her availability for the Rugby World Cup. Halfback seems her most logical position. Will the Black Ferns Sevens gun usurp the 22-year-old?
8. Kaipo Olsen-Baker (Matatu) – A mammoth season from the 2024 Black Ferns Player of the Year, ranking in the top ten for carries (92), metres gained (393), offloads (9), and tackles (104). When Matatu lost momentum in the final against the Blues, it was Olsen-Baker who triggered a comeback with a try and immense carries.
Blues number eight Liana Mikaele-Tu’u finished the season as the top tackler with 116 and ranked inside the top ten for carries.
7. Kennedy Tukuafu (Chiefs Manawa) – Chiefs Manawa failed to make the final for the first time in their history, but that was no fault of Kennedy Tukuafu. The skipper was typically inspirational, ranking inside the top ten for tackles (91), carries (80), and offloads (11). In Manawa’s near victory over the Blues in Round Two, she was arguably the best player on the field with a huge performance.
Blues openside Taufa Bason is one to watch. The 18-year-old played a gritty final and scored two spectacular tries in the March 29 Matatu match and another one in a 49-26 win against the Hurricanes a week later.
6. Alana Bremner (Matatu) – The Matatu captain was industrious and ranked inside the top ten for tackles and lineout catches. Matatu beat every side in 2025 compared with four successive losses to start 2024. Bremner was at her very best in the 31-25 comeback win against Chiefs Manawa in the opening round.
5. Maama Vaipulu (Blues) – Athletic and uncompromising, Vaipulu was a model of consistency, ranking inside the top ten for lineout catches, tackles, and carries. With her youth and explosiveness, she’s likely to be a long-term Black Fern.
4. Maiakawanakaulani Roos (Blues) – Has played every minute in Blues history, leading her side to two championships and 12 wins in their last 14 games. The Blues were last in 2023. Ross is an inspirational skipper with an enormous work rate and a big smile.
Her late turnover in the final, holding up Pip Love, was vital. Ranked in the top ten for carries (73) and tackles (103). Will Roos, a scarcely believable 23, become the first Black Fern to play a hundred Tests? She already has 29 and is showing no signs of stopping.
3. Veisinia Mahutariki-Fakalelu (Chiefs Manawa) – Following a breakout FPC for Premiership winners Waikato, Mahutariki-Fakalelu carried on the momentum in Aupiki with a barnstorming campaign. She ranked in the top ten for carries and offloads. The Chiefs scrum was sturdy with Mahutariki-Fakalelu anchoring the tighthead side. Mahutariki-Fakalelu should go close to Black Ferns selection.
2. Georgia Ponsonby (Matatu) – Matatu’s lineout was a real weapon with an accuracy rate of over 80 per cent, a powerful maul, and plenty of attacking variations. Ponsonby was productive around the field, too. She ranked tenth in tackles with 89 and carried an average of eight times a game.
1. Chryss Viliko (Blues) – The Blues were statistically the most dominant scrummaging team, with Viliko playing six of a possible seven matches. Her try in the final was a showcase of brute force. Viliko has the potential to be a damaging, world-class prop.
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