Bundee Aki has revealed that his wife gave birth to their daughter in the back of a car in New Zealand on the same day as the first Lions Test victory against Australia in Brisbane. The 35-year-old centre, who came off the bench in that match, is yet to meet his fifth child, Aine, and said reuniting with his family is his top priority after helping the Lions secure the series.
Aki described the dramatic events, explaining that his wife Kayla called him before the match to say she was heading to hospital with contractions. Minutes later, she sent a photo showing her waters had broken. Then, just ten minutes after that, she video-called him to reveal she had given birth in the car on the way to the hospital. 'I saw a baby on the video call,' Aki said. 'They're both strong and healthy, so happy days. I knew it was good juju so I knew we were going to have a good day.'
Aki started the second and third Tests, and despite the series not being a clean sweep, he expressed satisfaction with the outcome. 'We'll take the positive out of it. We won the series and that's all we got here for,' he said. 'Only so many people can say they've been on two tours or have won a series.'
