Brothers in arms, at last, for Sullivan boys

From rough and tumble and tears when battling their cousins on their Koro’s backyard, Bailyn Sullivan and Zarn Sullivan will finally be brothers in arms again tonight.

Two up-and-coming backline talents in the New Zealand game, the Sullivan siblings are not only both set to make their Ma¯ ori All Blacks debut against Ireland in Hamilton, but will at the same time create their own slice of family history, too.

Having never before played in the same team, the brothers will realise a lifelong ambition when they link up together in the Irish tour opener.

‘‘It’s something we’ve both always dreamed of, to play with each other on the field,’’ Bailyn said. ‘‘And then to do it in the Ma¯ori All Blacks jersey’s pretty cool. Hopefully we can carry that on and wear the black jersey one day, too.

‘‘But we’re stoked, we’re happy where we are, and to do it for our wha¯ nau is pretty special.’’

Indeed, ticket requests have been coming in thick and fast, with the Sullivans to have a decent crew on hand for the occasion, including mum from Tauranga and dad from Hawke’s Bay.

Earlier this year Bailyn, 23, got bragging rights over Zarn, 21, in the Hurricanes’ win over the Blues in Dunedin, while last year it was Zarn on Super debut who got the spoils against older bro, who was at the Chiefs.

Now, Zarn lines up at fullback for the Ma¯ori and midfielder Bailyn is set to enter off the bench, as the boys look forward to this new scenario of going to battle shoulder to shoulder.

‘‘Even during junior rugby we never played with each other,’’ Zarn noted.

Added Bailyn: ‘‘When my old man and my old lady split up, Zarn and my younger sister went up to Tauranga and stayed with my Mum, so we were apart for a few years. So during intermediate there wasn’t any opportunities to play with each other.

‘‘We tried to at school,’’ Zarn said, ‘‘but he left to King’s College, I was still at Napier Boys’ and then when I went to King’s College, he left school. So it didn’t quite work out.’’