Elinor-Plum King: 'When I first got the phone call saying I’d made the Black Ferns, I ignored it'

Elinor-Plum King is a plum talent recently capped by the Black Ferns. The 22-year-old openside flanker was player of the match in just her second Test against South Africa in Soweto, scoring two tries and making nine tackles and two turnovers in the 52-20 win on Saturday 5 September.

On August 22, in a 66-19 win against Australia in Auckland, she made 16 tackles and two turnovers on her debut, having scored 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 started the WXV Global Series by foiling France 28-14. King made eight tackles and was a disruptive presence at the breakdown against a vastly experienced local back row of Axelle Berthoumieu, Léa Champon and Charlotte Escudero who collectively made 49 of their 50 tackles.

“It was an awesome battle against the French,” King told RugbyPass. “It was hot. They were very physical and unpredictable with their kicking game

“When I first got the phone call saying I’d made the Black Ferns, I ignored it. I didn’t recognise the number. Fortunately, I know Whitney Hansen quite well.

“When we announce the team, we’re in a room. Your name goes on a big screen. The emotions are unreal. The girls get around you. It’s a very happy place.

“The Aussies were really committed. They didn’t give up for the 80 minutes and had some random attacks which surprised us. I felt like I was in the game straight away. I actually made the first tackle.

“You never want to miss the first tackle. We went reasonably deep from the kick-off, and I chased hard and lined up the first target.”

South Africa had a target firmly on the Black Ferns set-piece. Though 52-20 sounds resounding on the scoreboard, four yellow cards [15 against 13 at one stage], a 17-7 penalty count, and three tries conceded from lineout drives were something of a shambles.

“South Africa are a really dominant team in that set-piece space. We worked hard to tighten that up against France. The first thing is not giving away penalties and inviting the opposition into your 22. Then we made some technical adjustments.

“We’re quite an agile pack, so we worked to shift the opposition rather than try to overwhelm them with power. We put a lot of pressure on the French lineout, which was important.”

France were haphazard in the lineouts, winning just nine of 15 throws.

Ongaonga, also spelt Onga Onga, is a town in Central Hawkes Bay District. It is 20 kilometres west of Waipawa and about the same distance from Waipukurau. Or, as a local like King would say, “30 minutes towards the Ruanines from Waipuk.”

According to the 2023 New Zealand Census, Onga Onga’s population was 153. King’s family accounts for 5.88 per cent of that, with Mum Kel supporting eight siblings on a lifestyle block.

“I can name them all,” King laughed.

“We’re stocked, we have a whole sevens team.

“I’m right in the middle, never bored, always enough for a game.

“I bet ya it was mayhem for my Mum. There was definitely a lot of fighting.”

There was also a duty of care. In 2017, Kel founded The Food Basket CHB. It collects leftover groceries from supermarkets to feed the community and keeps tonnes of food out of landfill. The operation now has 40 volunteers and has grown to include cooking classes, gardening and frozen meals for the elderly and ill.

Between 2023 and 2024, the group rescued 230,000 kg of food from landfill and turned it into over 1.3 million free meals.

King started Rippa Rugby at four and was later selected for Central Hawke’s Bay in the prestigious Ross Shield primary school/intermediate rugby tournament dating back to 1902.

An even more prestigious invitation was to Manukura in Palmerston North, the elite Maori sports school and five-time defending National First XV Secondary School champions.

“The rugby at Manukura was just starting out. I was on their first team to go to the National Top Four in 2018 and win a National Sevens Under-15 Sevens title in 2019,” King recalled.

“I captained the First XV in 2021. I’m not surprised to see how they’ve gone since. The whole kaupapa of that place is awesome. I learned so much I would have missed out on otherwise, like diet, 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 Manawatu. I lived with her family. They’re awesome.”

King made awesome progress with her rugby. Former Black Fern and Manukura coach Kristina Sue described King as, “fearless, smart and quirky.”

She debuted in the Farah Palmer Cup for Manawatu in 2021 while still at school and has racked up 32 appearances for the Cyclones, winning 22 games, two championships and scoring eight tries.

Two seasons at the Hurricanes Poua in 2024 and 2025 were her introduction to Super Rugby Aupiki. In 2026, she shifted south to Matatu and caught fire.

She ranked second for most tackles and was inside the top ten for most lineouts won. King scored a memorable hat-trick, just the second in Matatu history, in their record 52-26 opening round victory against Chiefs Manawa at Te Kaha/One New Zealand Stadium.

King joined Black Fern Chey Robins-Reti as the only other Matatu player to score a hat-trick with her 21st, 70th, and 73rd-minute tries. She also ranked in the top ten for carries (nine), defenders beaten (six), metres 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-knit group and played some great rugby. It was a shame we couldn’t quite do it,” King said.

The Black Ferns next WXV Global Series fixture is against Scotland on Saturday 29 September at Edinburgh’s Hive Stadium.