Chiefs lock Naitoa Ah Kuoi has been forced to do a lot of growing up during the Covid-19 lockdown, with he and partner Kayla welcoming twins at Alert Level 4.
The youngest member of Warren Gatland's Chiefs side at just 20-years-old, Ah Kuoi welcomed twins Rylee and Reegan five weeks ago, as New Zealand shut down to halt the spread of Covid-19.
It was a welcome distraction for the pair, even though Ah Kuoi wasn't able to see his children for the best part of the first week, Level 4 restrictions keeping him away.
"Not being there for the first few days of their lives was just... I struggled a bit, just because once you meet them you can't get them out of your head," he told 1 NEWS.
"Sick of changing nappies, was traumatised in week two when she pooped on me.
"We thought it was going to be textbook easy, but turns out some of those textbooks got thrown out the window," adds partner Kayla.
However, just as the pair get set into their new routine, it's about to change once again - with Ah Kuoi and the rest of the Chiefs side to return to training from Monday.
"That's going to be the real challenge, is making sure I can go to work and be 100 per cent, and have her take care of the kids and me still being a dad."
The return of rugby is a welcome one for Ah Kuoi, so far featuring from the bench in every match for the Chiefs pre-Covid-19.
"It's been awesome, wasn't expecting to get that many minutes," he adds.
Only now, perhaps, the minutes with his children are more valuable than his minutes on the pitch.
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