Fourth-oldest Black Fern Henwood: 'The Rugby World Cup was the reason I came back'

Sometimes in rugby you come across a player who is just a little bit remarkable. Kate Henwood fits that bill. Sister in law to Brazil player Larissa Lima Henwood, rugby runs through her family’s veins.

Henwood, a mother of two, made her debut for the Black Ferns at the age of 34 years and 152 days during a 50-0 whitewash of Australia in July 2023. Henwood joked that she was old enough to have been team mate Sylvia Brunt’s mum.

Having largely abandoned her dream of becoming a Black Fern, everything changed when she received a call at work one day. Allan Bunting, the new Black Ferns coach, offered her a full-time contract and the opportunity to live and train as a professional rugby player for the first time.

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“I was shocked,” Henwood said, adding that she resigned from her job at Control Tech Ltd, an electrical engineering company, to become the fourth-oldest Black Fern. “My story will become less common as women’s rugby increases its professionalism.

“By 2022, I had basically retired. I was playing some club rugby, and that was it,” Henwood reflected. “The Rugby World Cup in New Zealand was the reason I came back more seriously. Still being here in England in 2025 feels surreal. It’s taken a lot of work, and I’m pretty proud of that.”

The prop has accumulated 11 Test matches so far. Highlights include appearances in the 52-21 victory over Canada in Ottawa, the Black Ferns’ 100th Test win, and a record 70-7 thrashing of Wales in Dunedin three months later.

In 2024, she started in the 57-5 thrashing against the USA in the Pacific Four Series and contributed strongly in the 39-14 win against France in the last WXV I fixture in Vancouver.

Against the Eagles, Henwood outmuscled world-class tighthead Hope Rogers, who joined Jamie Burke that season as the only USA player to reach 50 caps. In the match against France, where Katelyn Vahaakolo scored a memorable hat-trick, Henwood set up a try for Alana Bremner with a delightful offload, marking the Black Ferns’ biggest win against the French since 2018.

Henwood made her Rugby World Cup debut in the Black Ferns’ 62-19 win over Japan at a sold-out Sandy Park in Exeter on Sunday, a victory that secured the Black Ferns a place in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals.

“Japan aren’t the most physical team, but they’re technically very good and they keep coming. We got caught out a couple of times by their speed and skill,” Henwood said.

“Against Ireland, we’ll be working on slightly different things because it will be a different style of game, more in the forwards, I think. This is the World Cup. Every team is going to bring their best, especially against the Black Ferns.”

The Black Ferns face Ireland in Brighton on Sunday, with the top ranking in Pool C at stake. The Black Ferns have won 22 of their last 23 Rugby World Cup pool matches, with their only loss during that span being a 17-14 defeat to Ireland in 2014. The Irish have won nine of their last ten World Cup games.

Head-to-Head

Last 2 Meetings

Wins

1

Draws

0

Wins

1

Average Points scored

34

15

First try wins

50%

Home team wins

50%

These intense Rugby World Cup matches are a long way from ?p?tiki, a small town with a population of just over 5,000 in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, North Island.

But Henwood, one of five siblings with four rugby-playing brothers – including former Chiefs, Hurricanes, and M?ori All Blacks loose forward Sam Henwood – was playing with the boys as a teenager.

Henwood’s club side Bay of Plenty rejoined the Farah Palmer Cup domestic competition in 2014 after a long hiatus. Henwood has been a regular fixture in the Volcanix for most of that time, even as the team’s fortunes have fluctuated wildly.

“After college, I didn’t play rugby again until I was 24. Things started to pick up again in 2012 when the Go For Gold Sevens programs began. In 2014, Bay of Plenty came back. Seeing the improvement and growth of rugby in the area has been awesome,” Henwood noted.

“I was in the team that lost to Auckland 101-0 in 2015. The Storm had a dozen Black Ferns. Three years later, we beat them 34-29 at Eden Park. That win is right up there for me.”

Winning the Rugby World Cup would top a mighty domestic triumph. If the Black Ferns were to prevail for a seventh time, Hendwood would essentially emulate the feat of 38-year-old powerhouse prop Emma Thomas from nearby Te Teko, who anchored the scrum in the Black Ferns’ 1998 Rugby World Cup success.

The oldest Rugby World Cup winner is Black Fern legend Anna Richards, who was 45 years old when she won in 2010. Could Henwood match this record and join the Richards in the World Rugby Hall of Fame?

“45? That’s ridiculous! I take it one scrum at a time,” Henwood laughed.