Brought up in
Te Puke near the Bay of Plenty, Kingi's family moved to Australia when he was 15 years old. He played for Sunnybank rugby club, before going onto representative football that included the Queensland U19s, U20s, the IRB Junior World Championships and the Australian Sevens. He travelled with the Wallabies spring tour of Japan and Great Britain in 2009, and made his Wallabies debut against the
Cardiff Blues. In 2009–10 Kingi was reserve halfback for the
Queensland Reds, behind
Will Genia. He signed a two-year deal with the
Melbourne Rebels in March 2010, and in 2011 his competitors for the Rebels halfback role were
Nick Phipps, and former Wallaby
Sam Cordingley. In October 2010, Kingi was named as one of 12 uncapped players in the Wallabies' 40-man squad to train for its tour of Hong Kong and Europe. When he wasn't required for Wallabies training he travelled to
Lorne to be part of the Rebels' pre-season team-building activities. == Griffith university colleges knights ==