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Joe Rokocoko's reputation for getting ahead of the rugby pack transferred to the maternity ward when he stepped in as a temporary "nurse" at the birth of his first child.
The Blues and All Blacks player was at his wife Beverley's bedside in Auckland when their son, Cypress, was delivered. But Rokocoko admitted the experience wasn't all plain sailing - for him at least.
Talking from Cape Town, where he has joined the Blues as they prepare for a Super 14 match against the Stormers tonight, "Smokin' Joe" said: "I was there with my wife and a midwife. I was waiting for more of the nurses to come along. But then the midwife just chucked me some gloves and told me to put them on. I was hoping to stand behind the table on the other side ... of the room ... but in the end, I was right alongside my wife."
Close enough to help deliver their first child ?
"I was close enough to be able to take some of the gas they were giving my wife," he said.
"At one stage, I took the mask off her and put it on myself. I have gone through a few experiences but there was nothing like that.
"I have certainly never needed to get gas when I've played a rugby match. It was an awesome experience."
But he didn't get much of the relaxing gas, he admitted - Beverley's need was greater.
For the sake of family harmony, Joe and his wife decided to choose a neutral name for their son.
"The Bible was next to us so we just started flicking through it. We felt, whatever name catches the eye will be the one. We saw 'Cypress' a couple of times and said, 'There, that's what it is."'
In full, it's Cypress Cohan Napolioni Rokocoko. And the numbers? He was born at Middlemore Hospital at 3.20pm on Friday, February 20, and weighed in at 4.23kg.
Cohan is for Beverley's brother, and Napolioni is Joe's brother.
Mother and baby are doing fine, but Beverley is not getting much sleep.
Joe said : "There are bigger things in life [than rugby] and this is one of them. Before, I couldn't understand why some players always said it was so good to go home. But I will always be excited going back home now."
- additional reporting by Peter Bills
