He's won one award after the other for his prowess on the pitch but ask him what his greatest achievement is and this is what he’ll tell you: becoming a dad.
Lood de Jager and his wife, Constance (both 27), recently welcomed the latest addition to their family – daughter Annah Fray, who entered the world on 15 September weighing a hearty 4,56kg. “She’s incredibly cute,” Constance says. “She sleeps a lot and she’s always hungry – definitely her dad’s child in that respect.”
She grins at her husband. “At first, Annah looked more like her dad but now she’s starting to look like me and we’re really relieved!”
Sadly for Lood, he missed his daughter’s birth by one day. While Constance was in labor at Mediclinic Vergelegen in Somerset West near Cape Town, the towering Bok lock, who currently plays for the Sale Sharks in Manchester, England, was frantically trying to get back to SA.
Lockdown restrictions make international travel complicated – so when Annah arrived, he was sitting at the airport in Amsterdam, desperately sad he wasn’t at his wife’s side. “But he was on FaceTime when she was born,” Constance says. “And he was really emotional.”
“It felt surreal,” Lood says. “You can’t imagine you’ve just welcomed a new baby while you’re sitting in an airport.”
Both parents are besotted with little Annah – as is big brother, Elijah (nearly two), whom the couple adopted in 2018.
“He just wants to hold her the whole time,” Constance says. Having missed the delivery of his daughter, Lood was determined to make up for lost time.
Denne historien er fra 22 October 2020-utgaven av YOU South Africa.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra 22 October 2020-utgaven av YOU South Africa.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
HOW TO BE YOUR OWN THERAPIST
With more and more of us struggling with our mental health, here's a common-sense guide to coping with life's ups and downs
SPUD: THE MAGIC CONTINUES
John van de Ruit tells us why he decided to write a sequel - and shares how his first book helped him find enduring love
SEX CONTRACT GONE WRONG
A Cape Town couple have been charged with using a young woman as a sex slave-but some say she lost the job she signed up for and now has a grudge against them
LIAM LAID TO REST
More than a month after One Direction singer LIAM PAYNE (31) tragically fell to his death from a balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, his loved ones finally got to say their goodbyes.
SHILOH HANGS OUT
THE two young women look like any pair of good friends chatting and laughing as they leave their dance class in Los Angeles.
LEO IN LOVE
He's just turned 50 and it seems Leonardo DiCaprio may finally be ready to settle down
PACKING A PUNCH
Irish actor Paul Mescal beefed up for his role in the blockbuster epic Gladiator II - and fans are loving it
I DIDN'T CHOOSE TO BE A LOVE CHILD
As the illegitimate daughter of the king, she fought to be recognised as part of Belgium's royal family, but Princess Delphine says she still feels unwelcome
'I STILL HAVE NIGHTMARES'
A bite from a spitting cobra 13 years ago nearly killed her but Mikayla survived - and she's made peace with her scars
THE CLAWS ARE OUT!
Things have grown frosty between the Beckhams and the Sussexes as Becks comes out in clear support of William
