The arrival of baby Kyus has changed the young rugby star’s life, as well as his game.

After years of struggling to conceive, rugby league star Shontayne Hape and his beautiful wife Liana finally have the baby they always dreamt of.

But their bundle of joy led to a major rethink for the 27-year-old sporting pin-up and triggered his decision to make a fresh start on life and his career.

The former New Zealand Warrior recently announced his controversial move to switch code from rugby league to union, signing a lucrative three-year deal with the Bath Rugby club in the UK.

Shontayne’s decision meant breaking his contract with the Bradford Bulls and puts him out of contention to play for the Kiwis in October’s Rugby League World Cup.

‘There comes a time in your career when you feel like a new challenge. I feel I’ve achieved everything I wanted to achieve over here with rugby league,’ Shontayne tells New Idea in an exclusive interview.

The proud new dad and his long-time sweetheart Liana welcomed their son Kyus into the world three days before Christmas.

Gorgeous Kyus is definitely the apple of his father’s eye and understandably so considering the four-year struggle Shontayne and Liana had to conceive.

Devastating blow
Sadly Liana, 28, suffered two miscarriages before finally being diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome, a common cause of infertility.

The news came as a devastating blow. So when the professional choreographer and dancer unexpectedly fell pregnant, the couple knew they had been given a new lease on life.

‘It’s been really life-changing in the best possible way,’ Liana says. ‘It’s tough as we don’t have that family support that you have at home, but we have a few people we can call on if we’re desperate, including Robbie and Henry Paul’s mum Gail, who has been fantastic.’

Once Kyus was born, fatherhood became Shontayne’s number one priority.

‘It’s been tough with what Liana’s been through but being a dad is so awesome and rewarding. Even if you have a bad game, you can rely on the fact that when you come home, everything becomes insignificant when you see your son.’

The couple says they would love to have more children and plan to try again within the next year. However, both are realistic about the difficulties they may face.

‘We wanted to have a baby for so long,’ Shontayne reveals. ‘We started eating organic foods and trying all sorts of things. Thankfully we had Kyus without having to go through the operation.’

Liana was set to have a procedure called ovarian drilling, which helps ovulation, before she became pregnant.

‘Although I still have the polycystic ovaries, we want to have more children as we both come from big families,’ says the So You Think You Can Dance judge, who had a home water birth. ‘No doubt we will try to have another baby within the next year or two.’

The family have now left their Bradford home, which they had lovingly renovated over the past eight months, and moved to the historic city of Bath.

‘I’m going to miss Bradford,' Liana says.  'But it’s a new and exciting challenge for us.’

However, not everyone is thrilled with Shontayne’s move to union.

‘My mum’s a rugby league fan through and through,’ says Shontayne, who left for England in 2003 but returns to New Zealand every year to see his family.

‘Mum wanted me to hold out and play in the World Cup for the Kiwis at the end of the year but the opportunity with Bath came sooner than we thought and it was too good to turn down. So ultimately she was really sad, but at the same time she’s happy for me.’

Proud Kiwi
Kyus’ grandmother has become used to her son being away and has been over to pay him a visit.

‘My mother understands,’ Shontayne says. ‘At the end of the day, home will always be home.’

Shontayne and his young family will visit New Zealand for his sister’s wedding in December and he has vowed to return permanently before his son turns five.

‘It’s quite tough on kids here in the UK, always stuck inside with the weather,’ Shontayne says.

‘We want Kyus to have the life we had when we were growing up – playing outdoors with all his cousins, enjoying the beaches and growing up being a proud Kiwi.’

By Caroline Botting