Bundee Aki reveals wife gave birth in a car hours before he played for Lions in first Test against Australia

Bundee Aki with his wife Kayla and their children, Andronikas and Ailbhe, after Ireland's 2023 Six Nations win. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inpho

Bundee Aki has revealed his wife Kayla gave birth to their fifth child on the day of the Lions’ first Test in Brisbane on July 11th, before the Ireland centre came on as a replacement in the tourists’ 27-19 victory.

In the aftermath of rain-sodden series finale in Sydney, the 35-year-old was asked if returning to Australia in two years’ time for the 2027 World Cup was a goal, at which point he divulged he had more pressing matters on his mind.

“We’ll see, we’ll see. 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,” he told stunned reporters in the mixed zone of the Accor Stadium after the Wallabies’ 22-12 win on Saturday.

“Yep, a girl,” he confirmed happily. “She was born when we were playing in Brisbane, so I haven’t met her. Her name is Áine, so I’m looking forward to going and meeting my newborn child and we’ll go from there.”

The story has echoes of a bygone era, when Lions squads travelled to the southern hemisphere by boat for marathon tours of several months and missing the birth of a child was not uncommon for players.

“Credit to my wife. She’s a powerful woman, a strong woman. I have to say it to her. If you only knew the story of what happened, it’s a funny story in itself.

“It was a good day,” he began, hesitantly, before revealing some of the details as Kayla communicated to him from New Zealand, where she and the rest of the Aki family were on the day.

“I was in the hotel. I knew we were overdue. The missus calls me and she’s like: ‘Water hasn’t broke but I’m going to the hospital, I’m feeling contractions.’ I go: ‘Yeah, fair enough.’

Bundee Aki celebrates with team-mates in the dressingroom after the Lions' second Test victory over the Wallabies at Melbourne Cricket Ground. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inpho

“She goes to the hospital, we’re getting ready for the team meeting prematch, and then she calls me and says she’s on the way to the hospital. So I said: ‘Fine, be safe.’ Five minutes later, she sends a photo, her water broke.

“I was like: ‘Cool, OK, are you almost there?’ This is like 30 or 40 minutes away from the hospital. So I said: ‘You’ll be all right, Mum is there.’ Ten minutes later, she video calls me and I was like: ‘Shit, what’s going on?’ I saw a baby on the video call, so she had it in the car on the way to the hospital.

“They’re both strong and healthy, so happy days,” he added, grinning broadly throughout.

As for refocusing on his other task at hand, namely that first Test at Suncorp Stadium, Aki maintained: “I knew it was good Juju, so I knew we were going to have a good day.”

It certainly constitutes one of the most memorable days of his life.

They chose a good Irish name too. “All my kids’ (names) start with A, so my wife loved the name Áine. That’s five As in the family,” he said, their newest arrival joining older siblings Armani-Jad, Adrianna, Andronicus and Ailbhe.

The birth put the matter of a rugby match into perspective, particularly one as daft and farcical as the weather-interrupted third Test.

“There’s no excuse,” admitted Aki, of an error-strewn Lions performance which dipped from previous standards. “We were just behind the eight-ball. I wasn’t great myself. Today was a poor game, but you have those days, you’ve just got to live with it.

“We’ll take the positive out of it. We won the series and that’s all we came here for. We’d have loved a clean sweep but it didn’t happen.”

Bundee Aki (centre) with Lions, Ireland and Connacht team-mates Finlay Bealham (left) and Mack Hansen (right) after the third Test in Sydney. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho

Aki was one of the players, along with Tadhg Furlong, who could be seen lounging on bean bags during the storm-induced stoppage, which lasted 37 minutes before play resumed. He admitted they were caught a little off-guard when given notice that the game would be resuming in 10 minutes.

“They said 45 minutes, they would let us know. We were all just sort of relaxed and then we got told, ‘Oh we’ve got 10 minutes before we get out’. Oh shit! Everyone had to get on their feet and start moving again.”

No doubt helped by the prospect of soon seeing his family and newborn daughter, Aki could also frame Saturday’s defeat in the context of completing his second Lions tour and a series win.

“Only so many people can say they’ve been on two tours or have won a series. Honestly, I can’t say anything high enough of this bunch of boys, the team, the staff. It’s been one of the most enjoyable tours I’ve ever been on. It’s so good. We’re going to enjoy tonight as a group of players together, and we’ll see them again in the new year,” he said, in reference to meeting as opposing players in the Six Nations.

Aki has been a serial winner throughout his career, be it the Ranfury Shield with Counties Manakau, the Super Rugby title with the Chiefs, the Pro12 with Connacht, or three Six Nations titles, including two Grand Slams, and a series win in New Zealand with Ireland, and now adds a series win with the Lions.

“Obviously, there’s quite a few up there; Six Nations at home, Grand Slam, the New Zealand tour. The Lions is every four years, coming to Australia, being the first team to go back-to-back to win the series against Australia, it’s up there.”

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