Mummy’s boy now Dad: Lions lock eyes Shield
He wears the word ‘Mum’ on his headgear and at 21 he’s living the dream as father of twins. By Mark Geenty.
AT 21, Chiefs and Wellington lock Naitoa Ah Kuoi insists he’s living the dream, even if 2020 has thrown up a few scares along the way.
‘‘Gosh, I’ve got my two dream jobs, being a father and a footy player,’’ he says.
Ah Kuoi trains with Wellington by day, then returns home to partner Kayla Rangiawha to help bathe and change their seven-month-old twins, Reegan and Rylee.
Reegan’s aMummy’s boy, like his Dad, Ah Kuoi laughs, given he proudly wears headgear with the word ‘Mum’ taped to the front in a nod to his mother Frances and her influence. While things are going smoothly now, the twins’ arrival was anything but.
Back in April, with the country in Covid-19 lockdown and Ah Kuoi based in Hamilton with the Chiefs, there was a late, dramatic change of venue for the birth. Strict Covid protocols in hospitals made it even tougher.
‘‘In Hamilton the birthing unit was full so they were born in Tauranga. She [Kayla] went in an ambulance and I went the next day. I was there for everything and four-five hours after, then had to drive back to Hamilton,’’ he said.
‘‘For five days I was sitting at home and Kayla was in the hospital by herself which was quite bad for her. It was aweird time— my life had changed and then for five days I was at home chilling out and not seeing our kids.
‘‘It was tough for both of us. I really missed them and she was struggling because she couldn’t have a support person and she did five days alone with twins.
She’d had a C-section so she couldn’t get up. The birth was quite stressful, but since those first few days it’s been great.’’
Ah Kuoi had been scheduled to fly to South Africa with the Chiefs, but with the competition on hold, it meant hewas a fulltime father for the first month, until training resumed.
‘‘For us lockdown was good because as young parents we just had to learn how to do it by ourselves with no help. It was good for us to grow as people and as a family.’’
Then with the twins three months, there was an on-field scare which left viewers and Ah Kuoi’s family and friends holding their breath.
Playing against the Hurricanes in Hamilton on July 5, the 116kg, 1.96m lock collided with his Wellington team-mate Du’Plessis Kirifi and was knocked cold, the game held up for an eternity before he was stretchered off.
‘‘I didn’t even know what happened until I watched the film. It was pretty ugly. I was the one wearing headgear and I had eight stitches in my head and got knocked out, and ‘Dupes’ was sweet.
‘‘My partner was at the game and quite worried for a bit. Then when I came to, I had so much adrenaline— I got my stitches and went and sat on the bench and watched the game and she was like ‘what the heck’. She saw me smiling and it was all good.’’
Ah Kuoi was lucky, and says he’s experienced no ill effects as the Chiefs took an ultra-cautious approach to his return to play.
The former Wellington College star is contracted to them for Super Rugby next year, having originally been given an opportunity ‘‘I couldn’t pass up’’.
And yes, that surname is familiar. Ah Kuoi confirms the former Kiwis rugby league player Fred Ah Kuoi is his uncle, although they have never met. ‘‘I know hewas a good league player back in the day and a lot of people ask me about it.’’
For now it’s the Ranfurly Shield that occupies Ah Kuoi’s mind, as Wellington challenge Hawke’s Bay at 2pm today in a bid to become the fifth holder this year.
He’s locked the scrum with captain James Blackwell in an up-and-down season which has them fourth, still in contention but needing victory to remain in the semifinal mix and lift the Log o’ Wood for the first time in 12 years.
‘‘It means a lot. It was cool beingwith the Chiefs and watching a few of the boys win it with Taranaki. It’s a really good opportunity for us. There’s no one in the current playing squad that has won it. ‘‘I remember last time Wellington won it [in 2008] I wasa kid— I remember seeing guys like Jeremy Thrush have the shield and how cool that was. It’s a big opportunity for us to create a little bit of history, and I’d love to come back to Wellington with it and have someone else who’s young remember the same thing.’’