Vanessa Cootes

Vanessa Cootes

Date of birth	(1969-07-26) 26 July 1969 (age 55)
Height	1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Weight	76 kg (168 lb; 12 st 0 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing Provincial / State sides Years Team Apps (Points) Waikato () International career Years Team Apps (Points) 1995–2002 New Zealand 16 (215)
Medal record Representing   New Zealand Women's rugby union Rugby World Cup 1998 Netherlands Team competition 2002 Spain Team competition

Vanessa Cootes (born 26 July 1969) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. She played for New Zealand at an international level and for Waikato provincially. She was a member of the Black Ferns 1998 and 2002 Rugby World Cup Champion squads.

Rugby career

Cootes was part of the 1998 Rugby World Cup champion squad, she scored five of the Black Ferns eight tries in the final. ^{[1] [2]} She also competed at the 2002 Rugby World Cup in Spain. ^{[3] [4]}

Cootes held the Black Ferns record for the most tries scored, with 43 tries in 16 tests, and for the most points and tries scored in a match, until Portia Woodman-Wickliffe scored her 44th test try against the USA in May 2025. ^{[5] [4]} She scored a record nine tries against France in 1996. ^{[4] [5]}

She received her Black Ferns cap in 2018. ^[4]

References

1. IRB (2014). "Women's Rugby World Cup history". Archived from the original on 18 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
2. "Rugby's all-time greatest women's XV". Rugby World. 18 September 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
3. worldrugby.org. "World Rugby | world.rugby". www.world.rugby. Archived from the original on 24 August 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
4. Robinson, Melodie (15 October 2022). "Remembering the Black Ferns' 1998 Rugby World Cup strike weapons". The Spinoff. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
5. Julian, Adam (12 October 2022). "World Cup excites with tries galore". allblacks.com. Retrieved 1 January 2023.