Bundee Aki: Sacrifice and Victory with the British and Irish Lions
Rugby player Bundee Aki revealed that he missed the birth of his fifth child to participate in the first match of the British and Irish Lions against Australia.
Aki played 23 minutes as a substitute against the Wallabies at Suncorp Stadium on July 19, just hours after his wife, Kayla, gave birth to Aine in New Zealand.
The 35-year-old Irish center saw the birth of his daughter as an omen of the Lions’ resounding 27-19 victory, which led them towards triumph in the series.
I want to enjoy my rest, time with my family. I haven’t seen my family in eight weeks. I have a newborn that I haven’t met yet,” said Aki.
Bundee Aki
Aki praised his wife: “She is a strong woman. I have to tell her. If they knew the story of what happened, it’s a funny story in itself.”Bundee Aki jugó para los British and Irish Lions contra Australia horas después del nacimiento de su hija. Foto: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images“It was a good day. I was at the hotel. I knew we were about to. My wife calls me and says, ‘My water hasn’t broken, but I’m going to the hospital, I’m having contractions.’ I tell her, ‘Yes, okay.’
She is going to the hospital, we are preparing for the team meeting before the game and then she calls me and tells me that she is on her way to the hospital, so I told her: ‘Okay, take care’.
Five minutes later she sends me a photo, her water broke. I was like: ‘Great, okay, are you almost there?’ This is like 30 or 40 minutes from the hospital, so I told her: ‘You’ll be fine, Mom is there’.
Ten minutes later, she video calls me and I was like: ‘Shit, what’s happening?’ I saw a baby on the video call, so she had it in the car on the way to the hospital. Both are strong and healthy, so happy days!
I knew it was good luck, I knew it was good luck, so I knew we were going to have a good day.”
The Lions secured the series in Melbourne the following weekend, emerging as 29-26 winners in what was the first of two consecutive starts for Aki, who was also part of the 2021 expedition to South Africa.
“Only a few people can say they’ve been on two tours or won a series,” he said.
“Honestly, I can’t say enough good things about this group of guys, the team, the staff. It’s been one of the most enjoyable tours I’ve been on. It’s very good.”
The Lions are every four years, so coming to Australia, being the first team to win the series against Australia twice in a row, is right up there.”
