Lions star's wife gives birth in back of a car hours before Australia Test
Lions and Ireland star Bundee Aki says his wife called him from a car on the way to hospital hours before he faced the Wallabies
Bundee Aki (centre) says he is looking forward to meeting his new-born child
(Image:)
Lions centre Bundee Aki has revealed that his wife gave birth on the day of the first Test in Brisbane - with the Ireland international yet to meet his new-born daughter.
Aki, who featured in all three Tests for the British and Irish Lions here in Australia, was on the bench for the first Test in Brisbane. However, following the third Test defeat in Sydney, Aki revealed that he recently welcomed a fifth child - although he's yet to see his newest daughter.
"I want to enjoy my break, my family time," said the 35-year-old as he reflected on the end of a long Lions tour. "I haven't seen my family for eight weeks.
"I have a new-born child who I haven't met yet. She was born when we were playing in Brisbane, so I haven't met her.
"Her name is Aine, so I'm looking forward to going and meeting my new-born child and we'll go from there."
Aki and his wife have a simple theme when it comes to naming their children, with Aine joining Armani-Jade, Adrianna, Andronicus and Ailbhe.
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"All my kids start with A," he added. "So my wife loved the name Aine. That's five As in the family."
When asked if it had been difficult not seeing his new-born daughter and the rest of his family, Aki ultimately told the remarkable story of how his wife gave birth in New Zealand on the same day he was facing the Wallabies. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
"Credit to my wife," he said. "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.
"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.' She goes to the hospital, we're getting ready for the team meeting pre-match, 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, 'S**t, 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.
"In New Zealand, yeah. So happy days."
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Given the nature of the day, it might have been difficult for Aki to focus on the rugby, but the centre admitted he had no issue getting on with the task of taking on Australia at Suncorp Stadium.
"I knew it was good Juju, I knew it was good Juju," he said. "So I knew we were going to have a good day."
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Scottish Sun
32 minutes ago
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Lions star Bundee Aki reveals he missed arrival of his daughter during Australia tour after wife gave birth in a CAR
Aki admitted he played poorly in the defeat to Australia YOU'RE KIDDING Lions star Bundee Aki reveals he missed arrival of his daughter during Australia tour after wife gave birth in a CAR Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) BUNDEE AKI has revealed he became a dad again during the Lions' series win in Australia — with his wife giving birth in a car. The Irish centre held his hands up on his shocker in Sydney on Saturday in a 22-12 defeat, which saw the tourists miss the chance of a Wallaby whitewash. 3 Bundee Aki's wife has given birth to a daughter Credit: Instagram 3 Aki now has five children Credit: Instagram After the Lions failed to clinch a series clean sweep, Aki then announced he had become a father for the fifth time two weeks ago. The 35-year-old has yet to meet new daughter Aine, who was born in the build-up to the opening Test win in Brisbane. Wife Kayla was in New Zealand with family when she got in touch to say she was ready to give birth before he helped the Lions to a 27-19 triumph. Aki recalled: 'Credit to my wife. She's a powerful woman. I was in the hotel in Brisbane and I knew we were overdue. READ MORE IN SPORT 'BEAUTIFUL' Lando Norris' girlfriend Margarida Corceiro shows off sideboob in risque outfit 'The missus calls me and she's like, 'My waters haven't broken but I'm going to the hospital, I'm feeling contractions'. 'Five minutes later, her waters broke. I was like, 'Are you almost there?' This is like 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, 'S**t, what's going on?' I saw a baby on the video call, so she had it in the car. 'They're both healthy. I knew it was good juju and we were going to have a good day.' BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK All of Aki's kids have first names starting with the letter A — Armani-Jane, Adrianna, Andronicus, Ailbhe and now, Aine. But their old man admitted he put in nothing close to an A-star performance in Sydney as the Lions were mauled in a monsoon. The game was suspended after half-time for 38 minutes due to lightning, with the Aussies 8-0 up through Dylan Pietsch's try and a penalty. Finn Russell was spotted in the dressing room flicking through his phone and Aki had his feet up on a bean bag before play resumed. But the Wallabies struck twice after the delay to get the victory. Aki had his worst game in an international shirt but fronted up. He said: 'I wasn't great. It was a poor game but you have those days and you have to live with it. 'We won the series and that's all we came for. 'Now, I want to enjoy my break. I haven't seen my family for eight weeks. I have a newborn child I haven't met yet.' Australia got it over the line thanks to a turbo-charged display from lock Will Skelton, who was on the wind-up all match, and second-half tries from Max Jorgensen and Tate McDermott. Jac Morgan and Will Stuart crossed to give the Lions some consolation — but Skelton had shown the Aussies the way. Wallabies scrum-half Nic White said: 'For once, someone stood up to them.'
The Sun
33 minutes ago
- The Sun
Lions star Bundee Aki reveals he missed arrival of his daughter during Australia tour after wife gave birth in a CAR
BUNDEE AKI has revealed he became a dad again during the Lions' series win in Australia — with his wife giving birth in a car. The Irish centre held his hands up on his shocker in Sydney on Saturday in a 22-12 defeat, which saw the tourists miss the chance of a Wallaby whitewash. 3 3 After the Lions failed to clinch a series clean sweep, Aki then announced he had become a father for the fifth time two weeks ago. The 35-year-old has yet to meet new daughter Aine, who was born in the build-up to the opening Test win in Brisbane. Wife Kayla was in New Zealand with family when she got in touch to say she was ready to give birth before he helped the Lions to a 27-19 triumph. Aki recalled: 'Credit to my wife. She's a powerful woman. I was in the hotel in Brisbane and I knew we were overdue. 'The missus calls me and she's like, 'My waters haven't broken but I'm going to the hospital, I'm feeling contractions'. 'Five minutes later, her waters broke. I was like, 'Are you almost there?' This is like 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, 'S**t, what's going on?' I saw a baby on the video call, so she had it in the car. 'They're both healthy. I knew it was good juju and we were going to have a good day.' BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK All of Aki's kids have first names starting with the letter A — Armani-Jane, Adrianna, Andronicus, Ailbhe and now, Aine. But their old man admitted he put in nothing close to an A-star performance in Sydney as the Lions were mauled in a monsoon. The game was suspended after half-time for 38 minutes due to lightning, with the Aussies 8-0 up through Dylan Pietsch's try and a penalty. Finn Russell was spotted in the dressing room flicking through his phone and Aki had his feet up on a bean bag before play resumed. But the Wallabies struck twice after the delay to get the victory. Aki had his worst game in an international shirt but fronted up. He said: 'I wasn't great. It was a poor game but you have those days and you have to live with it. 'We won the series and that's all we came for. 'Now, I want to enjoy my break. I haven't seen my family for eight weeks. I have a newborn child I haven't met yet.' Australia got it over the line thanks to a turbo-charged display from lock Will Skelton, who was on the wind-up all match, and second-half tries from Max Jorgensen and Tate McDermott. Jac Morgan and Will Stuart crossed to give the Lions some consolation — but Skelton had shown the Aussies the way. Wallabies scrum-half Nic White said: 'For once, someone stood up to them.' 3
Daily Mirror
an hour ago
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British & Irish Lions star's baby born in car before first match of series
British and Irish Lions centre Bundee Aki missed the birth of his fifth child with the Irishman preparing for the First Test in Australia and has revealed his wife gave birth in the car British and Irish Lions star Bundee Aki has confessed that, whilst he was playing in Australia, his wife gave birth to their fifth child in the car. The Ireland international was playing Down Under, taking part in his second Lions tour, when his wife was on her way to the hospital after she felt contractions, only for her waters to break en route. She ended up giving birth to another child whilst she was still on the road. This happened ahead of the First Test in Australia, just over a fortnight ago. The first of Aki's five children was born in hospital and the next three at home. But their latest, Aine, entered the world in the back of a car in New Zealand. His wife Kayla had headed back there to visit family whilst Aki represented the Lions. After helping the Lions end a 12 year wait for a series victory the Connacht star revealed that he was yet to meet the latest member of his offspring, something he had kept quiet throughout the tour's final few weeks. He told the BBC: "I haven't seen my family for eight weeks. I have a newborn child who I haven't met yet." Aki added: "Credit to my wife.." before going on to explain the remarkable event. He said: "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. "Five minutes later, she sends a photo - her water had broken. I was like, 'Cool, OK, 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." The First Test is the only one he did not start, coming on in the 57th minute as the Lions secured a 27-19 victory following a stellar opening 50 minutes. Aki admits he knew they were on for a winning start after receiving the news of his latest arrivals. "I knew it was good 'Juju' [a magical property bringing good luck]. I knew we were going to have a good day," he said. All my kids start with A and my wife loved the name Aine. That's five As in the family - Armani, Adrianna, Andronicus, Ailbhe, and now Aine." Aki played in the centres again with Huw Jones on Saturday as the Lions missed out on making it a clean sweep in Australia. The Wallabies produced a spirited performance in Sydney to down Andy Farrell's men and restore some pride with the series already beyond them.
