Tyla King

Tyla King (; born 1 July 1994) is a New Zealand international rugby union player, professional rugby league player and Olympian.

She played touch rugby, tag rugby and both sevens and fifteen-a-side rugby union as a teenager before in 2012 at the age of 18 she made her debut as a professional rugby sevens player when she was selected for the New Zealand sevens team. During her time with the team, which she captained on a number of occasions, they won the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series in 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20, and 2022–23. With them she won a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and back-to-back gold medals at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

In May 2023, she was released from her contract with New Zealand Rugby to play rugby league for the Australian club St. George Illawarra Dragons in the NRL Women's Premiership. This led to her being selected in October 2023 for the New Zealand women's national rugby league team for whom she has played three matches to date. She returned to the New Zealand women sevens rugby team in early 2024 before retiring from international sevens rugby after the Paris Olympics. She is currently the highest women points scorer in the history of the women sevens series.

As well as touch, sevens rugby, fifteen-a-side and rugby league, King has represented New Zealand in tag rugby.

Early life Nathan-Wong was born in Auckland on 1 July 1994 to Deanne and Russell Nathan-Wong. Her grandfather, David Wong was born in New Zealand to immigrants from Guangzhou. He became close friends with Roger Bailey, who would later go on to play 30 times for the New Zealand national rugby league team between 1961 and 1970. As a result of their friendship Wong began playing rugby league as a youth for Ponsonby at a time when it was unusual for a person of Asian descendent to play contact sports. She grew up in the Auckland suburb of Blockhouse Bay and attended Blockhouse Bay Primary School. Following primary school she attended Blockhouse Bay Intermediate. The team, which was coached by her mother Deanne lost in the final Manurewa High. Nathan-Wong was named the most valuable player at the tournament. In 2008 she was a member of the Auckland Under-15 (which she captained), Waitakere Māori Open Women’s team and Auckland Open Women’s teams. This eventually lead to Lynfield College's Sport Coordinator Vaniya Lavea (who had played for the Black Ferns) introducing her to playing club rugby with the Auckland Marist Women's team. At the time she was the youngest woman to have ever been selected for the team.

In 2020 at the Sydney Sevens competition after kicking a conversion against France she became the first Black Ferns sevens player and only the second woman in the history of the Sevens Series competition to reach 1,000 points.

In 2022 Nathan-Wong was member of the New Zealand Sevens team which won a bronze medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. As a result of the lingering concussion, she received while playing in August 2022 against Australia for the New Zealand fifteen-a-side team she wasn’t available for the Sevens World Cup in September 2022. She returned to captain the Sevens team at first two games of the 2022–23 Sevens season, in Dubai and Cape Town in December 2022. In the final at Cape Town she scored two tries and kicked three conversions.

Following the completion of her break to play rugby league in 2023 and after missing to first two tournaments of the 2023–24 season she returned to the New Zealand sevens team in January 2024.

During the New Zealand win over Brazil at the Los Angeles tournament on 2 March 2024 she over overtook Ghislaine Landry to become the highest women points scorer in the history of the sevens series.

On 20 June 2024 it was announced that she was a member of the New Zealand Women’s Rugby Sevens team for the Paris Olympics. The team won the gold medal, defeating Canada 19–12 in the final to give both her and New Zealand back-to-back Olympic gold medals. This was her last appearance for the New Zealand sevens team as previously on 10 July 2024 King had announced that she would be retiring from international sevens after the Paris Olympics to concentrate on her rugby league career.

Fifteens In 2010 she was recruited to attend a quickly arranged quadrangular series played in Hopuhopu, near Ngāruawāhia involving various regional teams which served as a trial to select players for New Zealand fifteen-a-side team to contest the 2010 Rugby World Cup. She never made the side.

Nathan-Wong got her first Black Ferns XV's call up after she was selected for the Laurie O'Reilly Cup Test series against Australia. She made her test debut for New Zealand as halfback when she came off the bench in the second half of their game at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch against Australia on 20 August 2022 when they won.

This release allowed her to sign a one-year contract on 24 May 2023 with NRLW rugby league team the St George Illawarra Dragons with a view to later returning to sevens to play in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Nathan-Wong made her Rugby League and club debut at five-eighth on 22 July 2023 for the Dragons against the reigning NRLW champions Newcastle Knights, during which she scored a try. She played a total of nine games during her first season.

In 2023 she was selected for the New Zealand women's rugby league squad in compete in the Pacific Championship competition against Australia and Tonga. She was a member of the team that on 28 October 2023 beat Australia 12–6, in what was New Zealand’s first win over their trans-Tasman rivals in seven years.

After arriving back in New Zealand from the Paris Olympics on the morning of 2 August 2024 King departed three days later to commence a contract extension which will keep her playing with the St George Illawarra Dragons until the end of the 2025 season.

In 2015 and 2019, Nathan-Wong was named New Zealand Sevens Player of the Year. In 2020, Nathan-Wong was named Massey’s Distance Sportswoman of the year.

At the 2023 World Rugby Sevens Series Awards in May 2023 Nathan-Wong was named as a member of the 2023 women's dream team.

For her performance during the 2022–23 Sevens series Nathan-Wong was named the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Player of the Year in October 2023.

Personal life She is of the Ngāpuhi tribe, and is also of Chinese and European descent.

After competing her secondary education she began studying at the Auckland University of Technology, but due to her sporting commitments struggled to make process until she transitioned in 2015 to long distance study at Massey University. She was finally able to complete her studies when in 2023 she graduated with a Bachelor of Sport and Exercise. In 2019, King won the Te Tai Tokorau Māori Male Sports Award.