“We’re having a girl – we found out at our 20-week scan… maybe a wee Black Ferns player,” Chelsea Bremner says, her smile stretching from ear to ear.
“I’m due end of November. We’re so excited for the next chapter of our lives, we just can’t wait for baby to be here and whatever is to come next.”
Bremner and her fiance, Tongan international prop Joe Apikotoa, have been together more than six years and decided that after living most of that time apart as they chased their sporting dreams, including the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2025, it was time to have the family they have always wanted.
“I had the World Cup in my sights and that’s what I was working towards the last few years… that was my goal,” she told the Herald.
“Then I guess post-World Cup, whatever happened happened in terms of starting a family… I was ready for that step.
“I was very excited for the next step, and I feel really content with my rugby and all that I’ve achieved.
“I was just really grateful to be able to fall pregnant. It is really hard as a female athlete, you do have to obviously pick and choose your times – for example, you know if you want to make the World Cup you do have to wait and hold off. But that was totally fine because that’s what I wanted to do.”
Chelsea Bremner and her fiance, Tongan international prop Joe Apikotoa, announced they were expecting their first child together in June.
Bremner grew up in Little River, about 45 minutes’ drive from Christchurch on Banks Peninsula.
She kicked off her rugby career in 2015 at age 20 for the Lincoln University club and five years later she debuted for the Black Ferns and was part of the Rugby World Cup-winning squad in 2021.
The 31-year-old was also a foundational member of Matatū for the inaugural Super Rugby Aupiki season in 2022 before shifting to play for the Chiefs Manawa in 2023 and 2024.
She returned to the South Island team for the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
Bremner shared her pregnancy with her teammates days before their first game of the season, presenting the women with a onesie in Matatū’s teal strip.
“I think I’m so privileged to be part of teams [Black Ferns and Matatū] who care about the player first before the athlete,” she said.
“The management cares so much for the players and vice versa, so both of my coaches were so supportive and excited and telling my teammates was really exciting.
“We went away to the West Coast for our Matatū preseason, and by that point, the management knew but I told the players the day we got back, which was really cool and there’s a video of us, all the girls jumping around.
“There’s not been a huge amount of women since we’ve been professional rugby players who have become pregnant during the season and the campaign, so I think it’s been really cool to help shape the way that that can look.”
Joe Apikotoa and Chelsea Bremner have been together for about six years. The engaged couple are now expecting their first child – a daughter.
Bremner’s announcement did not mark the end of her season – far from it.
She has continued training with the team as much as possible, though obviously any physical contact has been ruled out.
And she was thrilled to remain part of their campaign as they chased their second Aupiki title at One NZ Stadium last weekend.
Matatū almost clinched it too, but a late try from the Blues pushed the southern team back to second place.
Bremner (right) with her sister Alana, who has also played for the Black Ferns and Matatū. Photo / Photosport
“I think this is the best possible kind of scenario – to be involved as part of a team still and be training and be surrounded by amazing, inspiring women,” she said.
“It’s been really special. Obviously I’m not on the field but I have still been in the mix which makes me very excited.
“I’ve been very fortunate with my pregnancy so far, in terms of I’ve been able to train all the way through.”
Bremner has been guided by the team’s managers, doctors and physio and has shared video of her in the gym and out on the training field on social media.
“I feel like the best thing for me was to just keep training because I felt like I could and my body is able to handle it,” she said.
“In the gym I’m just moving my body, maintaining that physical challenge that I love… and I’ve been doing about four runs a week. Two of them I do at training and if there’s any injured girls I’ve been running with them, and then I do a few road runs or interval runs.”
Bremner said as her pregnancy has progressed she’s had to slow down a bit and her running was now “more of a plod”.
“Obviously I’m listening to my body… but I just still love pushing myself and being active.”
Bremner decided early on she would share her path to becoming a mum in the hopes it will help other women in sport.
“My partner and I do like to keep things private, but in this case because I was involved with the Black Ferns and Matatū in season we figured that was the best way to go about it,” she said.
“It was going to come out through me not playing Super Rugby so I was just happy to announce it when we were happy – we weren’t rushed into it and everyone was supportive of our decision.
Chelsea Bremner and Joe Apikotoa are looking forward to having the family they always wanted.
“I mean, during the season there has been no hiding it – not that I wanted to. But to keep this kind of thing private would be quite a struggle. I just think it was a really cool opportunity and a cool space to be able to share my story… because there’s not been a whole lot of women who have done this in the New Zealand rugby space.”
Bremner said she had been “really inspired” by other rugby mums, Michaela Brake, Sarah Hirini and Shiray Kaka in particular.
“One of the Irish players has just had twins and a few of the England Red Roses players have been quite public with their pregnancies,” she said.
“Just seeing what they’re doing is really inspiring – seeing that they can make it work, seeing that they can still be part of a team.”
While Bremner isn’t thinking about when, or if, she’ll play again, she has no doubt rugby will continue to shape her life, whether she’s wearing the jersey or supporting the game from the sidelines.
“That’s definitely something that I’ve thought about, but as I said, I’m really content with where I am and I’ve loved being part of this team this season,” she said.
“I think it will just be a kind of ‘see what happens’ situation – it will be what feels right for me and the family. Potentially, [playing] could be something that I would be keen to do, but I’ll just definitely play it by ear and see what happens in our own time.
“When I see mums who I’ve played with, I see them managing mum life with a very young child but still being able to put it all into rugby on the field… I think the balance is obviously really hard but they can give it their all at home and when they’re at rugby that’s kind of their time and they are there for a reason so they’re going to give it 100%.”
Matatū general manager Sarah Munro says motherhood teaches women incredible skill sets. Photo / Anna Heath
Matatū general manager Sarah Munro was “really excited” about Bremner becoming a mum.
“We have a really cool environment where kids are welcome – they often will be on the sidelines, same with our other staff members’ kids,” she told the Herald.
“This is a place where they can be part of our environment and then feel like they belong.
“I’m really excited about what we can do to offer an environment that makes [Bremner] comfortable to bring her to work.”
Munro said the Matatū’s mums, and in fact all women in sport with children, were “an asset”.
“We can see that women coming back postpartum, if you’re able to provide support around that and build a really robust programme, sometimes athletes come back in even better shape than what they were beforehand,” she said.
“What I see when I’ve been working in the HR environment – and whether it’s an athlete or a non-athlete – is often women come back from postpartum with all of these superpowers of time management, emotional regulation, being able to be efficient with their time, probably finding it easier to prioritise their time… because they’ve had to learn all that through motherhood.
“I think motherhood teaches you incredible skill sets that are almost unmatched in any sort of corporate or sporting world.
“So, you’ve got to harness what your mamas have when they come back, and I’m excited about what Chelsea can bring when she comes back following her little baby, and how we can kind of unlock those superpowers.”
Chelsea Bremner was a foundational member of Matatū in 2022 before spending two seasons with the Chiefs Manawa. Photo / Photosport
Bremner hoped that, in the future, more women in sport would receive the same kind of support she’d had from Munro and the wider Matatū team and the Black Ferns.
“I’ve still been involved in one of our leadership groups, I’ve been involved in the lineout group,” she said.
“Even though obviously I’m not going to be on the field I am still being part of the team in that way. So I hope that other teams will continue to support and utilise the knowledge of their pregnant players.
“I feel so privileged and grateful… whatever I choose to do, I know that I’ll always be involved in rugby some way – whether I’m playing or coaching or managing… I think I’ve been really lucky to be part of women’s rugby… and it’s really cool to see where rugby’s going.”