Black Ferns star Portia Woodman has produced a virtuoso performance for Northland, touching down for six tries in their 77-3 Farah Palmer Cup victory over Taranaki.
Woodman's try spree is believed to be a record haul in the national women's rugby competition, but also set a Northland pointscoring record (30) in a single game.
Woodman, 29, has battled injuries for almost two years - first an Achilles injury and then a hamstring strain - which kept her out of action for most of 2019.
But the sevens and XVs veteran - the leading tryscorer on the IRB sevens circuit - has shown she's back near her best.
"It was awesome," Woordman told Sky Sport afterwards. "It's been a long time coming.
"It's been nice, this season, just to be back and find my groove again. I think I'm slowly getting there - just the lungs aren't quite there yet."
The result elevates Northland Kauri to third in the competition's north pool, behind unbeaten Waikato and Auckland Storm. Canterbury remain unbeaten in the south pool.
