Just getting started: Braxton Sorensen-McGee's rise with the Black Ferns continues

If you are a full-back for New Zealand and comparisons to Christian Cullen are being made, then there may not be a higher compliment.

Braxton Sorensen-McGee’s swerving run through the French defence in Whangarei was another excellent score to add to her collection. Special players do special things.

The teenage sensation at last year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup turned 20 this week, so you could say the field opening up in front of her for that try was an early gift.

“I think every full-back kind of waits for that moment to happen, for those holes that open up, so I was just very grateful that it happened when I had the ball,” says Sorensen-McGee, humbly.

The Black Ferns are preparing for a third match in a row against a beat-up France side in Christchurch, with Sorensen-McGee conceding that France have been undone by the absences of a number of key players including Pauline Bourdon Sansus and Madoussou Fall Raclot even before picking up plenty of injuries.

“I think France is a very good side, it’s just unfortunate that they have a lot of players injured at the moment. Their strengths are definitely their offloads, their strength, their physicality, and just their ability to stay on top when a team lets them.”

This stretch of six matches over the past two months has been beneficial, believes Sorensen-McGee, with the Black Ferns’ only defeat coming in dramatic fashion against England at Allianz Stadium.

Even if Zoe Harrison’s late interception try was crushing in the moment, there is a lot to be said for New Zealand’s ambition chasing the game from deep in their half, believes their star full-back.

“It was definitely hard, obviously, losing to England, but we feel like we played really well. We felt that it could have gone either way. Whether we got that pass off, we felt that we would have been down the other end scoring, so just for us to be able to take those risks is very brave. We just took our learnings from that game and have just improved from them.”

After England’s dominant run over the previous four years, the way New Zealand pushed the Red Roses close along with Canada’s draw and now two victories against the world champions has meant that the gap at the top of the women’s game has closed.

“I definitely think every team has gotten a lot stronger from maybe last year,” acknowledges Sorensen-McGee. “I think that the game has grown a lot, and just seeing where women’s rugby is right now is just a good feeling, knowing that every team is getting stronger, it’s just not going to be the same game. You can’t really go into any game [taking] a team lightly.”

Sorensen-McGee may only have just turned 20 and admits it still feels as though she is “growing in this team”, having spent part of the season away playing sevens before winning Super Rugby Aupiki with the Blues. Yet from the outside she feels like a pivotal cog for this Black Ferns side with an eye on building towards the next Women’s Rugby World Cup.

Her breakthrough at the 2025 tournament was sensational, finishing as the tournament’s top try scorer by a mile with 11 tries and as top points scorer. The Women’s Rugby World Cup surpassed her expectations, for multiple reasons.

“It definitely wasn’t what I thought it would be like. I thought it would be strict and serious, but just the way that the girls got around us newbies was very good and just took us under their wings.”

One key difference between this year and 2025 has been Sorensen-McGee taking on goalkicking duties for the Black Ferns, going into the final round of WXV as the top points scorer on 42.

Fixture

WXV Global Series

New Zealand Women

23:10

30 Oct 26

France Women

All Stats and Data

Through the Aupiki season she worked on her goalkicking technique with her Blues head coach, Willie Walker, who passed on some valuable advice as Sorensen-McGee make a crucial tweak to the direction of her strikes.

“I would kick it and try looking at the ball to see if it went over. So a little thing that he taught me to do was to keep my head down and try to kick through the ball. I was kicking pretty much every time after training, just getting those reps in so that I can stay consistent.”

While Sorensen-McGee cites her Black Ferns and Blues team-mate Ruahei Demant as someone she looks up to – “She’s an amazing person, and the way that she just cares for those and wants to help those around her, I think she is also one of my favourite players as well.” – her love for the sport started with her brother, Dredin.

A rugby league player now based in France with Albi, Dredin would take Sorensen-McGee down to the training field once a week to work on her technique.

“He helped me perfect things that I kind of wasn’t doing so well. ??So yeah, my inspiration would have been my brother,” she explains. “He was the reason why I started playing rugby, he’s just such a good player.”

As for the Black Ferns, life under head coach Whitney Hansen has started well, with the England defeat their only slip-up so far as they build into next year’s groundbreaking series with the British & Irish Lions.

“She is an amazing coach and just an amazing human, the way that she cares for everyone in the team, not just players, but also management, and just the way that she brings everyone together. I just think she is a very amazing coach and just a very amazing person,” explains Sorensen-McGee.

“She is very clear on her wording and her messaging to us on what kind of the week looks like. She is very honest and just very open to any conversation, whether it’s a hard one or not. I think that is a very great quality to have as a coach.”

With Hansen and a core of Sorensen-McGee, Kaipo Olsen-Baker, Demant and many more in place to take them forward, New Zealand will head into 2027 on a high.

And in Sorensen-McGee with her speed, footwork and ability off the tee, they have a genuine box-office superstar to build around even at such a young age.