New Zealand-born British and Irish Lions second five-eighth Bundee Aki has revealed he has yet to meet his newborn daughter because of playing in the 2-1 series win over Australia.
Following the third test defeat to the Wallabies on Saturday, the Ireland veteran let slip that his wife gave birthto their fifth child in New Zealand while he was playing in Brisbane last month, the BBC reports.
Aki said his wife Kayla gave birth to daughter Aine in the back of a car on the way to a hospital.
“I want to enjoy my break, my family time.
“I haven’t seen my family for eight weeks. I have a newborn child who I haven’t met yet,” Aki told the BBC.
“She’s a powerful woman, a strong woman. If you only knew the story of what happened, it’s a funny story in itself,” he added.
Bundee and Kayla Aki at the World Rugby awards in 2023. Photo / Getty Images
Aki said he got a call from his wife before the opening test win in Brisbane.
“It was a good day. I was in the team hotel. I knew we were overdue. The missus calls me and she’s like, ‘My water hasn’t broken but I’m going to the hospital, I’m feeling contractions’.
“We were getting ready for the team meeting pre-match and she calls back and says she’s now on the way to the hospital,” he told the BBC.
“Five minutes later, she sends a photo – her water had broken. I was like, ‘Cool, okay, are you almost there?’ This is like 30 or 40 minutes away from the hospital. I said, ‘You’ll be all right, Mum is there’.
“Ten minutes later, she video calls. I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ – and I saw a baby on the video call. She had it in the car on the way to the hospital. They’re both strong and healthy, so happy days.”
