Photography: Maree Wilkinson
For years, Kiwis have watched Tyla King sprint and tackle her way around the world as one of the country’s greatest-ever female rugby sevens players. But these days, the two-time Olympic gold medallist is embracing a slower pace of life.
Tyla, 31, and her waka ama champ husband Tupuria King are “super-excited” about the arrival of their first child, a daughter, in September. The superstar is also thrilled the debilitating morning sickness that completely stopped her in her tracks during the first few months of her pregnancy has finally eased.
“The first trimester was a rollercoaster!” admits the rugby legend, who only stopped vomiting at around the 20-week mark.
“I couldn’t train and felt sick all the time. Some days, all I could do was lie on the couch trying to keep my food down. Thankfully, I’m a lot better now.”
In January, when the couple found out Tyla (née Nathan-Wong) was pregnant at just three weeks and five days along, they were so excited, they couldn’t wait to tell their immediate families. They shared the news with their sisters first, called Tyla’s family in Australia, then gave Tupu’s mum and dad a special surprise when they took them out for dinner after his waka ama nationals.
Tyla recalls, “We opened a shoebox that had our positive pregnancy test inside and some little Adidas baby clothes, which said, ‘Baby King coming 2026.’ They both bawled their eyes out, especially Tupu’s dad!”
Breaking the news
One person Tyla was a little nervous to tell was her coach Tony Herman at the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. Tyla switched full-time to rugby league when she retired from sevens after the Paris Olympics and was the squad’s third player to become pregnant within a year.
“Luckily, he was awesome about the news!” Tyla shares.
“There must be something in the water because lots of my Black Ferns Sevens teammates have been having babies too.”
Despite her morning sickness, Tyla packed a good supply of dry snacks and headed off on a long-haul flight to Hong Kong in April as an ambassador for the Hong Kong Sevens 50-year celebrations, where the New Zealand wāhine won their fourth consecutive title.
A haka moment to remember
During the tournament, Tyla, who was named the 2023 World Rugby Women’s Sevens Player of the Year, and two other Black Ferns legends, Ruby Tui and Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, went viral for an impromptu haka in the stands as the squad did their own haka on the field.
“It was tough travelling while pregnant, but it was such a great trip too, made even better by the team winning the tournament,” recalls Tyla.
“I was pretty exhausted by the end and slept for the rest of the week when I got home.”
Sharing their happy news
A few weeks later, the sporty Papamoa couple headed out on the water, with Tupu, 32, paddling and Tyla popping a pink smoke flare to share the happy news they’re having a daughter with their thousands of fans on social media.
“We’ve had so many lovely messages and are so happy to be having a wee girl,” enthuses Tyla, who is of Ngāpuhi, Chinese and Pākehā descent.
“Tupu will be the best-ever girl dad!”
Enjoying the quiet moments
Apart from a few late-night Frozen Coke runs to McDonald’s, there haven’t been too many cravings requests for Tupu to fill, although he did go the extra mile to satisfy Tyla’s liking for a Filet-O Fish, catching two kahawai while he was out for a paddle and bringing them home to whip up some fresh fish burgers for his happy wife.
Both Tyla and Tupu are enjoying their quality time together as they nest, preparing for the arrival of their little one.
She shares, “With me going straight from sevens to the NRL, we’ve barely spent any time together over the past three years, so I love being here when Tupu gets home from work and cooking dinner for him or him cooking for me.”
A new pace of life
Tupu, who has Ngā puhi and Tainui heritage, says it’s a big change for his wife, but he loves seeing her relax and not have to train multiple times per day.
“Tyla really deserves the break, especially now she’s getting to enjoy her pregnancy. In the first few months, it took about as much energy as if she were preparing for the Olympics!”
Tyla has been slowly building up her gym work and is doing a bit of training, but she isn’t sure what the future holds when it comes to her glittering sports career.
“Right now, I just want to enjoy all the moments of being a new mum, especially in the early stages,” she says.
“I’m not putting any pressure on myself, whether I retire or end up going back to sport.”
What comes next for them both
Tupu, whose day job is training freight-carrying vehicle drivers at the Port of Tauranga, is thinking about his own sporting future now he’s becoming a dad. He’s competing as an individual and coaching the New Zealand men’s waka ama team at the World Sprint Championships in Singapore in August, just a month before their baby is due, so he has flexi-fares booked “just in case”, he grins.
Now she’s feeling better, Tyla has picked up her textbooks again and hopes to have finished most of her thesis on anxiety-related concussion perceptions in female rugby players for her Masters of Health Science by the time their baby arrives.
“I love the research side, especially with post-graduate study when you can pick a topic and dive deep,” Tyla shares, adding there is a chance she could become Dr King one day, having already been accepted into a PhD programme.
“There’s no real handbook on parenting, so we’ll see how things go with our baby first, but doing a PhD is something I could definitely look at down the line.”
Learning beyond the field
She’s also been gaining an insight into the governance side of sport, doing some work with Sport New Zealand and Māori trade board Te Taumata.
“I was a bit nervous when I joined last year, but it’s been really cool and eye-opening to work in that space,” she says.
“I’ve learnt a lot, and it’s amazing to sit alongside Sport New Zealand chief executive Raelene Castle and see how she runs the ship.”
After their gorgeous wedding two years ago, the busy sporting couple hasn’t managed to squeeze in a proper honeymoon yet, apart from a four-day mini-moon to Hahei. They hope to head away
for a similar long weekend during their final weeks as a twosome.
With the countdown on, Tyla says excitement is building as they prepare to welcome their baby girl.
Tyla says, “I just love staring at my belly in the mirror every morning and being surprised at how fast she’s growing. It’s going to be so exciting to see who she’s going to look like and have all those first moments. “Being a mum is going to be pretty special. I can’t wait!”
