\u201cI had the World Cup in my sights and that\u2019s what I was working towards the last few years\u2026 that was my goal,\u201d she told the Herald.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen I guess post-World Cup, whatever happened happened in terms of starting a family\u2026 I was ready for that step. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was very excited for the next step, and I feel really content with my rugby and all that I\u2019ve achieved. <\/p>\n
\u201cI 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 \u2013 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\u2019s what I wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chelsea Bremner and her fiance, Tongan international prop Joe Apikotoa, announced they were expecting their first child together in June.<\/p>\n
Bremner grew up in Little River, about 45 minutes\u2019 drive from Christchurch on Banks Peninsula. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
The 31-year-old was also a foundational member of Matat\u016b for the inaugural Super Rugby Aupiki season in 2022 before shifting to play for the Chiefs Manawa in 2023 and 2024. <\/p>\n
She returned to the South Island team for the 2025 and 2026 seasons. <\/p>\n
Bremner shared her pregnancy with her teammates days before their first game of the season, presenting the women with a onesie in Matat\u016b\u2019s teal strip. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think I\u2019m so privileged to be part of teams [Black Ferns and Matat\u016b] who care about the player first before the athlete,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went away to the West Coast for our Matat\u016b preseason, and by that point, the management knew but I told the players the day we got back, which was really cool and there\u2019s a video of us, all the girls jumping around.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s not been a huge amount of women since we\u2019ve been professional rugby players who have become pregnant during the season and the campaign, so I think it\u2019s been really cool to help shape the way that that can look.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joe Apikotoa and Chelsea Bremner have been together for about six years. The engaged couple are now expecting their first child \u2013 a daughter.<\/p>\n
Bremner\u2019s announcement did not mark the end of her season \u2013 far from it. <\/p>\n
She has continued training with the team as much as possible, though obviously any physical contact has been ruled out. <\/p>\n
And she was thrilled to remain part of their campaign as they chased their second Aupiki title at One NZ Stadium last weekend. <\/p>\n
Matat\u016b almost clinched it<\/a> too, but a late try from the Blues pushed the southern team back to second place. <\/p>\n \u201cI think this is the best possible kind of scenario \u2013 to be involved as part of a team still and be training and be surrounded by amazing, inspiring women,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been really special. Obviously I\u2019m not on the field but I have still been in the mix which makes me very excited. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been very fortunate with my pregnancy so far, in terms of I\u2019ve been able to train all the way through.\u201d<\/p>\n Bremner has been guided by the team\u2019s managers, doctors and physio and has shared video of her in the gym and out on the training field on social media. <\/p>\n \u201cI 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,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the gym I\u2019m just moving my body, maintaining that physical challenge that I love\u2026 and I\u2019ve been doing about four runs a week. Two of them I do at training and if there\u2019s any injured girls I\u2019ve been running with them, and then I do a few road runs or interval runs.\u201d<\/p>\n Bremner said as her pregnancy has progressed she\u2019s had to slow down a bit and her running was now \u201cmore of a plod\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously I\u2019m listening to my body\u2026 but I just still love pushing myself and being active.\u201d<\/p>\n Bremner decided early on she would share her path to becoming a mum in the hopes it will help other women in sport. <\/p>\n \u201cMy partner and I do like to keep things private, but in this case because I was involved with the Black Ferns and Matat\u016b in season we figured that was the best way to go about it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was going to come out through me not playing Super Rugby so I was just happy to announce it when we were happy \u2013 we weren\u2019t rushed into it and everyone was supportive of our decision.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, during the season there has been no hiding it \u2013 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\u2026 because there\u2019s not been a whole lot of women who have done this in the New Zealand rugby space.\u201d<\/p>\n Bremner said she had been \u201creally inspired\u201d by other rugby mums, Michaela Brake<\/a>, Sarah Hirini<\/a> and Shiray Kaka in particular.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the Irish players has just had twins and a few of the England Red Roses players have been quite public with their pregnancies,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n \u201cJust seeing what they\u2019re doing is really inspiring \u2013 seeing that they can make it work, seeing that they can still be part of a team.\u201d<\/p>\n While Bremner isn\u2019t thinking about when, or if, she\u2019ll play again, she has no doubt rugby will continue to shape her life, whether she\u2019s wearing the jersey or supporting the game from the sidelines.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s definitely something that I\u2019ve thought about, but as I said, I\u2019m really content with where I am and I\u2019ve loved being part of this team this season,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it will just be a kind of \u2018see what happens\u2019 situation \u2013 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\u2019ll just definitely play it by ear and see what happens in our own time. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen I see mums who I\u2019ve 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\u2026 I think the balance is obviously really hard but they can give it their all at home and when they\u2019re at rugby that\u2019s kind of their time and they are there for a reason so they\u2019re going to give it 100%.\u201d<\/p>\n Matat\u016b general manager Sarah Munro was \u201creally excited\u201d about Bremner becoming a mum.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a really cool environment where kids are welcome \u2013 they often will be on the sidelines, same with our other staff members\u2019 kids,\u201d she told the Herald. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is a place where they can be part of our environment and then feel like they belong. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really excited about what we can do to offer an environment that makes [Bremner] comfortable to bring her to work.\u201d<\/p>\n Munro said the Matat\u016b\u2019s mums, and in fact all women in sport with children, were \u201can asset\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can see that women coming back postpartum, if you\u2019re 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,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I see when I\u2019ve been working in the HR environment \u2013 and whether it\u2019s an athlete or a non-athlete \u2013 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\u2026 because they\u2019ve had to learn all that through motherhood. <\/p>\n \u201cI think motherhood teaches you incredible skill sets that are almost unmatched in any sort of corporate or sporting world. <\/p>\n \u201cSo, you\u2019ve got to harness what your mamas have when they come back, and I\u2019m excited about what Chelsea can bring when she comes back following her little baby, and how we can kind of unlock those superpowers.\u201d<\/p>\n Bremner hoped that, in the future, more women in sport would receive the same kind of support she\u2019d had from Munro and the wider Matat\u016b team and the Black Ferns. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve still been involved in one of our leadership groups, I\u2019ve been involved in the lineout group,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cEven though obviously I\u2019m 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. <\/p>\n \u201cI feel so privileged and grateful\u2026 whatever I choose to do, I know that I\u2019ll always be involved in rugby some way \u2013 whether I\u2019m playing or coaching or managing\u2026 I think I\u2019ve been really lucky to be part of women\u2019s rugby\u2026 and it\u2019s really cool to see where rugby\u2019s going.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWe\u2019re having a girl \u2013 we found out at our 20-week scan\u2026 maybe a wee Black Ferns player,\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":555733,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[9218,6326,7022,190379,272943,6636,39307,3052,33736,10541,2082,28559,2944,5812,24468,40437,7239,2891,111,139,425,69,34293,51041,122283,6327,53902,12633,213,57438,2737,61,154040,4576,1530],"class_list":["post-555732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-before","tag-biggest","tag-black","tag-bremner","tag-bremners","tag-challenge","tag-chelsea","tag-faced","tag-fern","tag-ferns","tag-for","tag-herself","tag-inside","tag-make","tag-mamas","tag-matat","tag-mission","tag-motherhood","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-now","tag-nz","tag-preparing","tag-pro","tag-proving","tag-rugby","tag-rugbys","tag-spent","tag-sports","tag-stages","tag-star","tag-to","tag-unlike","tag-work","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=555732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/555733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Bremner (right) with her sister Alana, who has also played for the Black Ferns and Matat\u016b. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n
Chelsea Bremner and Joe Apikotoa are looking forward to having the family they always wanted.<\/p>\n
Matat\u016b general manager Sarah Munro says motherhood teaches women incredible skill sets. Photo \/ Anna Heath<\/p>\n
Chelsea Bremner was a foundational member of Matat\u016b in 2022 before spending two seasons with the Chiefs Manawa. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n