Ivania Wong (born 23 September 1997) is a

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

-born Australian

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. She plays

Wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

for the Wallaroos internationally and for the in the

Super W Super Rugby Women's is an annual professional sports, professional women's rugby union club competition organised by Rugby Australia. It is contested by four clubs from Australia and one club from Fiji, who play a single series of Round-robin t ...

competition. She competed for Australia at the delayed

2021 Rugby World Cup The 2021 Rugby World Cup was the ninth staging of the Rugby World Cup (women), women's Rugby World Cup, as organised by World Rugby. It was held from 8 October to 12 November 2022 in Auckland and Whangārei, New Zealand. It was originally sche ...

Early life and education

Wong was born in

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province ...

East New Britain Province East New Britain is a province of Papua New Guinea, consisting of the north-eastern part of the island of New Britain and the Duke of York Islands. The capital of the province is Kokopo, not far from the old capital of Rabaul, which was largely ...

. She moved to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

with her parents at the age of eight. Upon moving to Australia, she learned

English as a second language English as a second or foreign language refers to the use of English by individuals whose native language is different, commonly among students learning to speak and write English. Variably known as English as a foreign language (EFL), Engli ...

and played a variety of sports from primary school to high school.

Rugby career

2022

Wong started in her international debut for Australia women's national rugby union team, Australia against Fiji women's national rugby union team, Fiji on 6 May 2022 at the Lang Park, Suncorp Stadium in

. She also started against Japan women's national rugby union team, Japan in her second test cap for the Wallaroos on 10 May at the Bond Sports Park in the Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast. Wong was named in the Australian squad for the 2022 Pacific Four Series. She started against the New Zealand women's national rugby union team, Black Ferns in the opening match of the Pacific Four Series, Pacific Four series on 6 June. She was later named in the Wallaroos squad for a two-test series against the New Zealand women's national rugby union team, Black Ferns at the 2022 Laurie O'Reilly Cup, Laurie O'Reilly Cup. She was selected in the team again for the delayed 2021 Rugby World Cup, 2022 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

2023

In the Wallaroos first game of the year, Wong scored the last try in her sides victory over Fiji on 20 May at the Sydney Football Stadium (2022), Allianz Stadium. She was selected in the Wallaroos side for the 2023 Pacific Four Series, and the 2023 Laurie O'Reilly Cup, O'Reilly Cup.

References

External links

Wallaroos Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wong, Ivania 1997 births Living people Australia women's international rugby union players Australian female rugby union players 21st-century Australian sportswomen Sportspeople from East New Britain Province Papua New Guinean emigrants to Australia