De Kock hunting double celebration
November 12 2008
Mils Muliaina is not the only new father in the rugby world as Saracens' Neil de Kock returned to training this week a proud man - and he is available for selection against Gloucester this Sunday.
De Kock missed the last two club matches to be in South Africa with his wife for the birth of their first child - a daughter named Layla.
And with his extended family now all comfortably settled back home, the scrum-half is back in Guinness Premiership contention this weekend.
"It was a very special moment," he revealed, speaking to the club's official website.
"People will always talk about what an intense experience it is to be at the birth of your child but until you have been part of it, you don't know what they mean.
"It was fantastic to be able to go home for a few weeks and have the support of our families and I still have the smile on my face - hopefully it will be there for a while as we have a big important few weeks ahead of us in the Premiership."
Although out of rugby action over the past couple of weeks, the former captain remained in good shape as he trained with Western Province while keeping an eye on Saracens' form.
"The guys have played well and got two good results - especially to that comeback against Bristol. It doesn't look like they have missed me at all!" he joked.
"We've had a bit of a break from the Premiership but we've now got three games in a row and they are very important for us. We want to head into the Christmas period in the top two or three in the Premiership so we are going to need to deliver - and that starts against Gloucester.
"They are a side that we haven't done that well against in the past few seasons so we want to put that right."
Director of Rugby Eddie Jones will also be boosted by the availability of new southern hemisphere signings Wikus van Heerden, Brad Barritt and Ben Jacobs, who are expected to feature against the Cherry and Whites.
And De Kock admitted he was delighted to welcome the trio to Vicarage Road as he predicts good times will follow over the remaining season months.
"It's been good to have those guys around and they will only increase the competition and the intensity," he said.
"With them arriving, we're now seeing strength in depth across all areas of the squad and with the experience and quality they are adding to the team, it's going to make things very exciting."