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Sport | Chiefs

Wainui loving life on and off the field

"I've cracked it. I've got a beautiful Māori queen. Asked her to marry me, she said the "Āe!"

Sean Wainui is happy with life at the moment.  He recently proposed to his "Māori queen" Paige Fox and the couple are expecting their first child together in May.

"We're having a baby tama too, so just looking for some Māori names," the Chiefs flyer says.

After a 2018 season cut short by a shoulder injury, Wainui is keen to get back on the field with the Chiefs this year.

It has been a long six months of running and hard work but he's happy to be back to near 100%.

"Before Christmas it was tough," he says, "I was feeling the old pouri and missing out, but it's good to be back with the boys."

Surgery in August ruled him out of the Mitre 10 Cup with Taranaki, which then meant he missed on the Māori All Black tour of the Americas, something he found tough to watch.

"It's a special jersey that Māori All Blacks jersey, as we all know.  So I was stoked for the boys but obviously I was a bit pouri as I was saying back at home," the Ngāriki Kaipūtahi and Te Aitanga a Mahaki descendant says, "But I was more hungry to get back on the field too."

Even as temperatures went past 30 degrees in Hamilton today, Wainui and his Chiefs teammates are determined to win another Super Rugby title, which they haven't held since 2013.

"[The] boys are really running their hearts out today and the sun makes it a bit harder, but we're all loving it," he says.

He's encountered a minor setback during his recovery, picking up a knock to his wrist, but he says he should be right to return to the field in round three or four of the super rugby season,which begins for the Chiefs on February 15, when they face the Highlanders.