Elinor-Plum King is a plum talent that recently overpowered Black Ferns. The 22-year-old flanker was man of the match in just his second Test against South Africa in Soweto, scoring two tries and nine tackles and two turnovers in a 52-20 win on Saturday 5 September.
Aug. 22, in a 66-19 win against Australia in Auckland she made 16 tackles and two turnovers on her debut, after scoring three tries a week earlier in the Black Ferns’ 62-19 trial win against the Black Ferns XV in Wellington.
On Saturday in Lyon, the Black Ferns kicked things off WXV Global Series foiling France 28-14. King made eight tackles and was a disruptive performance at the breakdown against a hugely experienced local back row of Axelle Berthoumieu, Lea Champon and Charlotte Escudero who combined to make 49 of their 50 tackles.
“It was a great battle against the French,” King said RugbyPass. “It was hot. They were very physical and unpredictable in the kicking game
“When I first got the phone call that I made the Black Ferns, I ignored it. I didn’t recognize the number. Luckily, I know Whitney Hansen pretty well.”
“When we announce the team, we’re in the room. Your name goes up on the big screen. The emotions are unreal. Girls flock to you. It’s a very happy place.
“The Austrians were really committed. They didn’t give up for 80 minutes and had a few random attacks that surprised us. I felt like I was in the game straight away. I actually scored the first try. Okay, that was tough.”
“You never want to miss the first take. We went pretty deep from the kickoff and I chased hard and set up the first target.”
South Africa had a firm target on the Black Ferns set-up. Although the scoreboard reads 52-20, four yellow cards (15 against 13 at one stage), a 17-7 penalty count and three conceded line-outs were something of a mess.
“South Africa is a really dominant team in that area. We worked hard to tighten it up against France. The first thing is not to give away penalties and invite the opposition into their own 22. Then we made some technical corrections.
“We’re quite an agile pack, so we worked to change the opposition rather than trying to overwhelm them with power. We put a lot of pressure on the French line, which was important.”
France were haphazard in their lineups, winning just nine of 15 face-offs.
Ongaonga, also spelled Onga Onga, is a town in the Central Hawkes Bay District. It is 20 kilometers west of Waipawa and about the same from Waipukurau. Or, as a local like King would say, “30 minutes to Ruanin from Waipuk.”
According to data from 2023 New Zealand According to the census, Onga Onga had 153 inhabitants. King’s family makes up 5.88 percent of that, with mom Kel supporting eight siblings on the living block.
“I can name them all,” laughed King.
“We are full, we have a whole team of weeks.
“I’m in the middle, never bored, always enough to play.
“I bet it was chaos for my mom. There was definitely a lot of fighting.”
There was also a duty of care. In 2017, Kel founded The Food Basket CHB. She collects leftover food from supermarkets to feed the community and saves tons of food from landfill. The operation now has 40 volunteers and has grown to include cooking classes, gardening and frozen meals for the elderly and sick.
Between 2023 and 2024, the group saved 230,000 kg of food from landfill and turned it into over 1.3 million free meals.
King started Rippa Rugby at the age of four and was later selected for Central Hawke’s Bay in the prestigious Ross Shield primary/secondary rugby tournament dating back to 1902.
An even more prestigious invitation was Manukura in Palmerston North, an elite Maori sports school and five-time defending High School First XV champions.
“Rugby in Manukura was just starting. I was in their first team that made the National Top Four in 2018 and won the National Under-15 Sevens title in 2019,” King recalled.
“I’m captain of the First XV in 2021. I’m not surprised to see how they’ve done since then. project that place is phenomenal. I learned so much that I would have otherwise missed, like nutrition, preparation, pride in identity and just good habits.
“One of the cool things about it was that I got to live with a host family. Have you heard of Jayda Maniapoto? She played for Manawata. I lived with her family. They’re awesome.”
King has made great progress with her rugby. Former Black Fern and Manukura trainer Kristina Sue described King as “fearless, smart and quirky”.
She made her debut in The Farah Palmer Cup for Manawatu in 2021 while still at school and made 32 appearances for the Cyclones, winning 22 games, two championships and scoring eight tries.
Two seasons at Hurricanes Poua in 2024 and 2025 were her introduction to Super Rugby Aupika. In 2026, she moved south to Matata and caught fire.
She took second place in the number of tackles and was among the top ten in the number of lines won. King scored a memorable hat-trick, only the second in Matatu history, in their record opening round win against Chiefs Manawa at Te Kaha/One New Zealand Stadium 52-26.
King joined Black Fern Chey Robins-Reti as the only other Matatu player to score a hat-trick with her tries in the 21st, 70th and 73rd minutes. She also placed in the top ten for carries (nine), defenders lost (six), yards gained (42) and tackles (16).
“Matatu was a good change of scene for me, new coaches, players and ideas. It was heartbreaking to lose the final. We had a really tight group and played some great rugby. Shame we didn’t do it,” said King.
Black Ferns next WXV Global Series game against Scotland on Saturday 29 September at the Hive Stadium in Edinburgh.
