Kyle Preston: the Tawa roofer whose Super Rugby debut was a hat-trick

In February 2025 Kyle Preston was new to professional rugby. A year earlier he had been finishing a roofing apprenticeship in Wellington. Inside ten minutes of his first Super Rugby game, for the Crusaders against the Hurricanes, he was sent on for an injured Noah Hotham, and by full-time he had scored three tries. Seven months later he was an All Black. Kyle Preston, 27, is now in his second All Blacks season, with six Tests from the bench and a place in the squad touring Scotland, Wales and England. This is the story of a halfback who took the long way through Wellington club rugby before everything happened at once.

Where he comes from

Preston was born in Wellington on 13 September 1999. The Crusaders describe him as "a born and bred Wellingtonian", and until 2025 he had never lived anywhere else. "It was a massive call for me. I've never lived out of Wellington," he told RNZ when he moved south.

Rugby runs in the family. Two of his brothers played premier rugby for the Tawa club, and his father has been involved in the Wellington game for years, clubrugby.nz reported in 2024.

Tawa College and club rugby

Preston went to Tawa College, which NZ Rugby's Museum profile calls "a small Wellington school". He played three years in its First XV, according to Wikipedia, and in 2018 he was in the Wellington Under 19 team.

After school he joined the Tawa club and played 31 premier games for them in 2018 and 2019, mostly as the understudy to the first-choice halfback. In 2020 he moved to Old Boys University, and in his first season there he started the Jubilee Cup final, which the students won 22-14 against Norths.

For a while he was not known for tries. He scored three in his two seasons at Tawa and four in his first 28 games for Old Boys University. Then, he told clubrugby.nz in 2023, a workmate on the roofing crew who played league gave him grief about it, and he started to back himself more. "I've become more confident at having a snipe and picking my moments," he said. By May 2023 he had 21 tries in his last 20 club games, including four against Wainuiomata, and was co-captaining the side. In the summer before, he had been named player of the tournament at the Bula 7s in Porirua.

He was a Wellington Development player for three years, waiting for a chance at the Lions. In 2024 Old Boys University won both the Swindale Shield and the Jubilee Cup.

On the tools

Through all of this Preston was an apprentice roofer, juggling training and games with days on the job. "I'm a man who likes to be up on the roof," he told RNZ in 2025. "It is pretty tough on the body, though." He finished the apprenticeship in March 2024 and came "officially off the tools" just before that year's NPC, he said after his Test debut. He has said it is a trade he would be happy to go back to when rugby is done.

Wellington

His first game for Wellington came on 12 July 2023, off the bench in a Ranfurly Shield defence against Horowhenua-Kapiti at Levin Domain, one of a dozen possible debutants named that week. He made his NPC debut in round one against Manawatu and played eight NPC games that season, three of them as a starter.

In 2024 he became a regular. He played all 13 of Wellington's games and scored eight tries, equal second in the competition behind North Harbour's Kade Banks, according to Wikipedia's tally. Against Bay of Plenty on 21 September, with the scores locked at 25-25, he scored the golden-point try in the first minute of extra time, chasing a kick from Riley Higgins. In the quarter-final against Counties Manukau he came off the bench for TJ Perenara and scored. In the 29-24 semi-final win over Waikato he scored twice.

He started the final against Bay of Plenty at Sky Stadium on 26 October. It went to extra time, and a Callum Harkin penalty in the 93rd minute gave Wellington a 23-20 win and the title.

The Crusaders

There had been talk of the Hurricanes, Planet Rugby reported, but Preston took an offer from Rob Penney's Crusaders. "There is a lot of things you have got to weigh up," he said of the choice. In pre-season he set a Crusaders bronco record of 4 minutes 13 seconds.

Then came the opening night of 2025 in Christchurch. Hotham was hurt early and Preston went on in the opening minutes to become Crusader No 293. His first try came from a Will Jordan assist, his second from a Sevu Reece kick ahead, and his third, late in the game, sealed a 33-25 win after the Hurricanes had led 22-14 at half-time. A fourth was ruled out. "The lungs were gone," he told Sky afterwards. Captain David Havili said moving south to "put himself into an uncomfortable position" had been huge for him.

He played 14 games in his first season and came off the bench in the 73rd minute of the final on 21 June, when the Crusaders beat the Chiefs 16-12 for the title. "Ending the season with a championship was pretty cool," he said when he re-signed until the end of 2027. "It's a special place down here."

The All Blacks

In August 2025 Scott Robertson named Preston as injury cover in his Rugby Championship squad. By the first week of September Cam Roigard (foot), Hotham (ankle) and Cortez Ratima (rib) were all injured, and Preston was named on the bench for the Test against South Africa at Eden Park on 6 September, with Finlay Christie starting. "He is a skilful player who has proven his ability to drive a game," Robertson said.

It was Ardie Savea's 100th Test. Preston came on for the last 13 minutes with the All Blacks 24-10 ahead, and became All Black No 1231 as they held on to win 24-17. A group of 19 family and friends watched from the stands. "It's a little movie, isn't it, in its own right," Robertson said afterwards. A few of Preston's old roofing workmates had featured in the video messages the team plays for its debutants, he added.

Rennie's third halfback

Dave Rennie kept him. Preston was one of three halfbacks in the squad for the July 2026 Nations Championship Tests, though he did not play in them, and he went on the Rugby's Greatest Rivalry tour of South Africa and the United States as Roigard's back-up.

He sat on the bench for all four Tests against the Springboks and came on in each: the 33-16 win at Ellis Park, the 33-26 loss in Cape Town, the 29-24 loss at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg and the 43-28 loss in Baltimore. Around the Tests he played all four tour matches. He started at halfback against the Sharks in Durban on 11 August, took a quick tap penalty and threw the blindside pass that led to a try for Fehi Fineanganofo, and scored one himself in a 54-0 win. Against the Bulls in Pretoria his pass started the move for Leroy Carter's second try.

He came off the bench again in the 70th minute of the first Bledisloe Test at Eden Park on 10 October, a 50-19 win, and was not in the 23 for Sydney a week later. On 26 October he was named in the 36-man squad for the northern tour, again as one of three halfbacks with Roigard and Ratima.

His Test record is six matches, all off the bench in the No 21 jersey, with three wins and three losses. He has also played four tour matches, starting one, and scored one try.

Style and standing

The Museum profile describes him as "an instinctive support runner with a reliable boot". He kicks with both feet, which he sees as a point of difference. "I kick off both feet," he told RNZ, adding that it helps relieve pressure during games.

Looking back on his rise after the Eden Park debut, Preston said: "I have been working pretty hard for over a decade really."

Where he is now

Preston is not in the 23 for Scotland at Murrayfield on Sunday 8 November (NZ time), where Roigard starts and Ratima is on the bench. He stays with the squad for Wales in Cardiff and England in London, then the Nations Championship finals weekend at the end of November. He is contracted to the Crusaders through 2027 and is in their squad for next season with Hotham and Mitchell Drummond.

Career at a glance

Test figures are from RUGBE's match-by-match All Blacks data to 17 October 2026.