Off to the World Cup to watch her two boys in action
David (left) and William (right) Havili with their proud mum, Jenny Bisley, after the two faced off against each other for the Crusaders and Moana Pasifika in Super Rugby earlier this year. Photo: Supplied.
Jenny Bisley is a proud mum. Every time her sons are playing rugby, she is watching it in support of her boys.
And while that might mean some late nights and some early starts, with two of her sons playing international rugby, she says she’d do it all over again.
As the mother of David and William Havili, Jenny says it’s not always easy to wake up for the early morning games.
“If it’s live on TV, I make sure I get up. No matter what time.”
Having watched her boys from their days playing for Motueka United right through to earning All Blacks and Tongan honours, she says the sacrifices have been worth it.
With David having earnt 25 All Blacks caps since his debut in 2017 and William making his first appearance in Tongan colours last year, having made nine appearances already, she has a lot to be thankful for.
“I gave up my own sport to take them to theirs. They played any sport they could.
“I’ve got two boys going to the World Cup, and I remember them as little fellas playing for Motueka United.”
But, it hasn’t been all plain sailing as David suffered a hamstring injury this season that put his hopes of being on the plane for France in jeopardy. Fortunately, the injury came right just before the All Blacks made their team announcement, with Jenny saying it was a nervous wait to see if he’d be selected.
“He’s only played one half of rugby since May, a half for the Mako earlier in the season.”
But, in those 40 minutes he was instrumental in setting up a try and showed he was back and as fit as ever. And while Jenny does occasionally have to pick and choose which game she watches, with David based in Christchurch with the Crusaders and William up in Auckland with Moana Pasifika their game times occasionally clash, she says she’s looking forward to being able to watch both her boys in action.
She flies out to France this week ahead of the World Cup, planning to attend all the games her boys are playing in.
“Sometimes I have to choose which one. But why decide when you can go to the World Cup and see them both.”
While there is a chance the brothers come up against each other if the two teams meet in the quarter-final knockout stages, it is a tall order with Tonga having an uphill battle in their pool with South Africa, Ireland, Scotland and Romania.