Every World Cup year starts the same way for New Zealand rugby fans: waiting for a squad list that rewrites the season’s whole story. The 2025 Black Ferns group landed on 25 July — 33 players headed to England, with Ruahei Demant and Kennedy Tukuafu named co-captains and 16 players back from the 2022 title-winning squad (NZ Rugby (national governing body)).

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Squad size: 33 players ·
Forwards / backs: 19 / 14 ·
Co-captains: Ruahei Demant & Kennedy Tukuafu ·
Announced: (NZ Rugby (national governing body)) ·
Tournament: England, from (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser)) ·
Reported opener: Spain

Quick snapshot

1Confirmed facts
  • 33-player squad announced on 25 July 2025 (NZ Rugby (national governing body))
  • 19 forwards and 14 backs (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))
  • Ruahei Demant and Kennedy Tukuafu named co-captains (NZ Rugby (national governing body))
2What’s unclear
3Timeline signal
  • — squad announced (NZ Rugby (national governing body))
  • — tournament opens in England (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))
  • Quarter-final — Demant at fly-half, Maia Joseph at halfback, Woodman-Wickliffe and Sorensen-McGee on the wings (RNZ (public broadcaster))
4What’s next
  • The tournament opens on (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))
  • Match-day teams to be named fixture by fixture (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))
  • Official tournament hub tracks rosters, results and broadcast details (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))

Ten facts frame the 2025 squad, and one pattern holds: continuity at the top, change on the edges.

Fact Detail
Official / common name New Zealand women’s national rugby union team — the Black Ferns (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))
Roster year 2025
Squad size 33 players (19 forwards, 14 backs) (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))
Announcement date (NZ Rugby (national governing body))
Co-captains Ruahei Demant and Kennedy Tukuafu (NZ Rugby (national governing body))
Selection panel Allan Bunting, Tony Christie, Steve Jackson, Dan Cron, Riki Flutey (NZ Rugby (national governing body))
Returning from 2022 title 16 players (NZ Rugby (national governing body))
Reported opener opponent Spain (reported in pre-tournament coverage)
Third World Cup Portia Woodman-Wickliffe selected; Ruby Tui omitted (Reuters (international news agency))
Reported quarter-final wings Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and Braxton Sorensen-McGee (RNZ (public broadcaster))

Who are the Black Ferns players in 2025?

Which players were named in the 2025 Black Ferns squad?

  • 33 players, announced on 25 July 2025 (NZ Rugby (national governing body))
  • 19 forwards and 14 backs, per the official squad release (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))
  • Confirmed names on the official overview: Ruahei Demant, Georgia Ponsonby, Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and Kennedy Tukuafu (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))
  • Selected by Allan Bunting, Tony Christie, Steve Jackson, Dan Cron and Riki Flutey (NZ Rugby (national governing body))

What positions are covered in the new-look squad?

  • Forwards carry the numeric weight: 19 of the 33 are forwards (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))
  • The official team page lists jersey numbers and positions for the full 33 (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))
  • The reported quarter-final spine: Ruahei Demant at fly-half, Maia Joseph at halfback (RNZ (public broadcaster))
Why this matters

A 19-14 forward-to-back split is a selection statement: Bunting’s panel built the squad around set-piece muscle, then trusted a young back three to finish the chances that muscle creates.

How does the 2025 squad compare with the 2024 player group?

  • 16 players return from the 2022 World Cup-winning squad (NZ Rugby (national governing body))
  • Portia Woodman-Wickliffe is back for her third World Cup (Reuters (international news agency))
  • Ruby Tui is not in the 33 (Reuters (international news agency))
  • The 2024 squad list is not reproduced on the official 2025 tournament pages — the 2025 roster is the reference point (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))

The pattern: continuity at the top, change around the edges. A squad that returns 16 champions is a reload, not a rebuild — but the omissions show the panel was willing to make hard calls.

What is the Black Ferns’ starting XV for 2025?

What is the Black Ferns’ 15-player match-day lineup?

  • Co-captain Ruahei Demant started at fly-half in the quarter-final against South Africa (RNZ (public broadcaster))
  • Maia Joseph started at halfback in the same 15 (RNZ (public broadcaster))
  • Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and Braxton Sorensen-McGee started on the wings (RNZ (public broadcaster))
  • The full fixture-by-fixture 15 is published per match; the official tournament overview lists the entire 33 with jersey numbers (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))

Which front-row starters were named for the Spain opener?

  • Pre-tournament coverage of the reported Spain opener named Vici-Rose Green, Awhina Tangen-Wainohu and Amy Rule in the front-row conversation — not yet confirmed in official match-day lists
  • The official 33-player roster is the only confirmed list of who is available to start (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))

Who are the back-three options?

  • Two wing spots in the reported quarter-final XV went to Woodman-Wickliffe and Sorensen-McGee (RNZ (public broadcaster))
  • Woodman-Wickliffe brings three World Cups of experience (Reuters (international news agency))
  • Full back-three depth beyond those two starts is not broken out in the official coverage available for this report (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))
Bottom line: The 2025 starting XV is a match-by-match story, not a single poster team. Fans tracking a specific player should follow the official match-day lists; casual viewers can plan around the reported spine of Demant, Joseph and the two wings.

Who is the Black Ferns captain for 2025?

Who are the 2025 co-captains?

  • Ruahei Demant and Kennedy Tukuafu were named co-captains in the July 2025 squad announcement (NZ Rugby (national governing body))
  • Both are listed in the official 33-player tournament roster (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))
  • RNZ’s quarter-final report described Demant as co-captain on the field (RNZ (public broadcaster))

What is Kennedy Tukuafu’s leadership role in the squad?

  • Tukuafu shares the co-captaincy with Demant (NZ Rugby (national governing body))
  • Players-to-watch lists published around the 25 July announcement highlighted her as a forward leader (reported in squad coverage)
  • Her role balances Demant’s playmaking leadership with a forward’s voice in the pack
The trade-off

Co-captaincy spreads the burden across two playing styles — Demant’s tactical command from fly-half and Tukuafu’s presence in the pack — but it also asks two leaders to stay aligned through a long tournament campaign.

The pattern: splitting the captaincy between a World Cup-winning playmaker and a forward leader tells the squad that leadership won’t rest on one set of shoulders — and that the panel wanted both voices in every team talk.

Who is Braxton Sorensen-McGee?

How old is Braxton Sorensen-McGee?

  • Official tournament pages list jersey numbers and positions, not date of birth (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))
  • Her age is not confirmed in the official 2025 coverage used for this report
  • What is confirmed: she was selected in the 33 and started a quarter-final on the wing (RNZ (public broadcaster))

What is Braxton Sorensen-McGee’s ethnicity?

  • Ethnicity is not listed on the official tournament roster (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))
  • No primary interview in the available sources addresses her background
  • Confirmed instead: her place in the 2025 squad and the reported quarter-final XV (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))

What is Braxton Sorensen-McGee’s weight?

  • Weight is not published on the official team pages reviewed here (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))
  • Rugby weight listings, when they exist, usually sit on player-profile pages updated through the tournament
  • What the official record does show: she is one of the 33 and was picked on the wing for the quarter-final (RNZ (public broadcaster))
The catch

Sorensen-McGee’s personal statistics are among the most-searched parts of the 2025 squad, but the official sources simply don’t publish them. Trust the confirmed facts — squad selection and a quarter-final start — over speculative player profiles.

The gap is the story. A player can become a fan-search phenomenon while official profiles still only list her jersey number — and that’s exactly where Sorensen-McGee sits in 2025.

Bottom line: Braxton Sorensen-McGee is the 2025 squad’s breakout search story, and one confirmed fact drives the hype: a World Cup quarter-final start on the wing. Fans searching for age, ethnicity or weight should treat the official tournament page as the source of truth. Roster-watchers: follow match-day lists instead.

The implication: Sorensen-McGee’s on-field achievements are confirmed, but her personal details remain a gap in official coverage — a gap that may be filled as the tournament progresses.

Who is the winger for the Black Ferns?

Which winger has been most associated with the Black Ferns?

  • Portia Woodman-Wickliffe is the player most often tied to the winger question — she’s heading to her third World Cup (Reuters (international news agency))
  • She started on the wing in the quarter-final against South Africa (RNZ (public broadcaster))
  • The official 33-player roster confirms her in the squad with a jersey number (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))

Who are the wing and back-three options in the 2025 squad?

  • The reported quarter-final wings were Woodman-Wickliffe and Braxton Sorensen-McGee (RNZ (public broadcaster))
  • The official team page lists the full back-three squad numbers (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))
  • Depth beyond those two starters is not detailed in the official coverage available for this report
What to watch

The winger answer for 2025 is a two-name story: Woodman-Wickliffe’s experience plus Sorensen-McGee’s pace. Match-day lists will decide which flank each takes — and whether a third option rotates in.

The trade-off: starting a three-time World Cup winger brings calm and finishing quality; starting Sorensen-McGee brings outright speed. The quarter-final selection used both, the clearest signal yet of how the panel sees the back three.

Are the Black Ferns a good rugby team?

How have the Black Ferns performed historically?

  • They arrived at the 2025 World Cup as defending champions (NZ Rugby (national governing body))
  • 16 players in the 2025 squad won the 2022 title (NZ Rugby (national governing body))
  • Woodman-Wickliffe is playing her third World Cup — a span that covers the team’s modern golden era (Reuters (international news agency))

What does the 2025 squad need to prove?

  • That a new-look group can defend the title — the squad is widely described as a reload rather than a rebuild (reported in squad coverage)
  • That the omissions, Ruby Tui’s most prominent, don’t cost depth (Reuters (international news agency))
  • That the 19-forward build can dominate the tournament’s heavyweights (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))

The implication: the Black Ferns are judged by silverware, not potential. Sixteen returning champions plus a new-look edge makes them a title contender on paper — the tournament in England decides the rest.

Black Ferns 2025: squad fact sheet

Ten rows capture the official record, and the pattern underneath is simple: a defending champion kept its spine, added a new-look edge, and made one statement call at selection.

Fact Detail
Team New Zealand women’s national rugby union team — the Black Ferns (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))
Governing body New Zealand Rugby (NZ Rugby (national governing body))
Tournament Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, England — from 22 August (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))
Squad size 33 players (19 forwards, 14 backs) (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))
Announcement & selectors 25 July 2025 · Allan Bunting, Tony Christie, Steve Jackson, Dan Cron, Riki Flutey (NZ Rugby (national governing body))
Co-captains Ruahei Demant and Kennedy Tukuafu (NZ Rugby (national governing body))
Title status & experience Defending champions; 16 players back from 2022 (NZ Rugby (national governing body))
Third World Cup Portia Woodman-Wickliffe (Reuters (international news agency))
Notable omission Ruby Tui (Reuters (international news agency))
Reported quarter-final wings Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and Braxton Sorensen-McGee (RNZ (public broadcaster))

The pattern: this is a squad built to defend a title — an experienced spine, new wing depth, and leadership shared across two captains.

Black Ferns 2025: timeline to the World Cup

  • — Black Ferns questions from the 2024 season form the backdrop for 2025 selection calls.
  • — NZ Rugby announces the 33-player squad (NZ Rugby (national governing body)).
  • — the Women’s Rugby World Cup opens in England (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser)), with the reported pool opener against Spain next.
  • Quarter-final — the reported XV against South Africa lines up Demant at fly-half, Maia Joseph at halfback, and Woodman-Wickliffe and Sorensen-McGee on the wings (RNZ (public broadcaster)).

The pattern: four dates carry the whole campaign — the squad drop, the tournament opener, the knockout assignment, and whatever comes after. Each one changes the answer to “who’s playing?”

What’s confirmed, what’s still unclear

Confirmed facts

  • 33-player squad announced on 25 July 2025 (NZ Rugby (national governing body))
  • 19 forwards and 14 backs (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))
  • Co-captains Ruahei Demant and Kennedy Tukuafu (NZ Rugby (national governing body))
  • Portia Woodman-Wickliffe in for a third World Cup; Ruby Tui omitted (Reuters (international news agency))
  • Reported quarter-final wings: Woodman-Wickliffe and Braxton Sorensen-McGee (RNZ (public broadcaster))

What’s unclear

  • Sorensen-McGee’s age, ethnicity and weight are not on official tournament pages (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser))
  • The complete tournament starting XV beyond the reported quarter-final side needs official match-day confirmation (RNZ (public broadcaster))
  • Front-row names for the Spain opener — Vici-Rose Green, Awhina Tangen-Wainohu, Amy Rule — are reported in coverage, not confirmed in match lists
  • The 2024 full roster is not reproduced on the official 2025 pages
  • Whether the “new-look” label changes the playing style is not something the roster alone can confirm

The split tells you where to look next: the squad facts are locked, but the lineup questions stay open until each official match-day team drops.

What the sources say

The July 2025 squad announcement named Ruahei Demant and Kennedy Tukuafu as co-captains, with 16 players returning from the 2022 title-winning squad.

NZ Rugby (national governing body)

The Black Ferns named a 33-strong squad for Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 — 19 forwards and 14 backs — for the tournament in England opening 22 August.

Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser)

Portia Woodman-Wickliffe was selected for her third Women’s Rugby World Cup, while Ruby Tui was left out of the squad.

Reuters (international news agency)

The quarter-final side against South Africa included co-captain Ruahei Demant at fly-half, Maia Joseph at halfback, and Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and Braxton Sorensen-McGee on the wings.

RNZ (public broadcaster)

The pattern: all four sources agree on the core facts — the only open questions are the ones official match-day lists haven’t answered yet.

What the 2025 Black Ferns squad means

The 2025 Black Ferns squad is a reload, not a rebuild: 33 players, a co-captaincy shared by Ruahei Demant and Kennedy Tukuafu, 16 returning champions, and one of the game’s great wingers back for a third World Cup (NZ Rugby (national governing body); Reuters (international news agency)). The reported lineups will keep shifting match by match, so the smart baseline is the official roster plus each fixture’s match-day list (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser); RNZ (public broadcaster)). For New Zealand rugby fans following the title defence, the choice is clear: plan around the official announcements, or spend every match weekend chasing a lineup that changed at training.

Additional sources

rugbyworldcup.com, allblacks.com, nzrugby.co.nz, nzherald.co.nz, nzrugby.co.nz, en.wikipedia.org, rugbypass.com

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Frequently asked questions

What is the name of the New Zealand women’s national rugby union team?

The team is officially the New Zealand women’s national rugby union team, known worldwide as the Black Ferns (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser)).

Who were the Black Ferns players in 2024?

Official 2025 tournament pages list the current 33-player squad rather than the 2024 roster (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser)). For continuity, 16 players in the 2025 group were part of the 2022 title-winning squad (NZ Rugby (national governing body)).

Who is the Black Ferns halfback?

Maia Joseph started at halfback in the reported quarter-final XV against South Africa (RNZ (public broadcaster)). The official match-day lists are the place to track who wears the No. 9 jersey each fixture (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser)).

What is the Black Ferns’ schedule for 2025?

The Women’s Rugby World Cup in England opens on 22 August 2025, with the Black Ferns’ reported pool opener against Spain (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser)). The official tournament hub lists the full fixture path as results land (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser)).

When do the Black Ferns play Scotland?

A Scotland fixture is not confirmed in the official coverage used for this report. The reliable move is the official tournament schedule hub, which updates the Black Ferns’ match dates and venues (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser)).

How can I watch the Black Ferns?

The Rugby World Cup tournament pages and NZ Rugby’s official channels carry the broadcast and streaming picture for the 2025 campaign (Rugby World Cup (official tournament organiser); NZ Rugby (national governing body)).

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