Photography: Robert Trathen
Taylah Johnson admits that as a “type-A woman”, she loves nothing more than being in control. But as any parent knows, the best laid plans go flying out the window when you have kids.
That’s why as the former rugby player, 30, and her husband, ex-Blues centre Matt Johnson, prepare for the arrival of baby number two, she speaks candidly about parenting being her toughest gig.
“Motherhood wasn’t for me,” confesses Taylah. “As Matt will say, I’ve never been a maternal person because I’m so career-driven.”
However, the Sky Sport commentator, hubby Matt, 32, and their three-year-old boy Matthew – who is also known as “MJ3” because his grandad is a Matt too – are looking forward to welcoming their new addition, a baby boy named Robert after Taylah’s grandfather, in August.
Motherhood’s toughest moments
Control, process and structure are what make Taylah – a former Samoan international, current member of the World Rugby Council and chartered accountant – tick. They’re also possibly why she was diagnosed with late-stage postpartum depression after the couple welcomed MJ3 into the world three years ago.
Taylah admits, “It honestly hit me like a tonne of bricks because everyone I know who is a mum looks like they’re smashing it. No one ever says, ‘This is hard.’
“I thought there was something wrong with me. As a high achiever, I kept being like, ‘Nope, I’m fine. It’s going to fall into place.’ Then when he got to a year old, I realised, ‘This is so hard. I feel like a failure.’”
What pulled her through was Matt, who wholeheartedly supports his ambitious wife to balance motherhood and a career, which includes commentating for Sky, working as a business development manager at Kiwibank, and her duties for multiple boards and rugby organisations.
To be able to juggle all her work, Matt – a teacher and rugby coach – is the primary parent and took a year off to care for MJ3 after he was born.
“We joke that Matt is the mum and I’m the dad,” smiles Taylah. “When our son would cry, Matt would say, ‘That’s a hungry cry,’ or, ‘That’s a tired cry,’ I’d be like, ‘All I hear is crying!’” Smiling, Matt nods,
“Yup, I’m definitely the more maternal one!”
The perfect pairing
This time, though, Taylah is opting to stay home with the new bub for the first six months, before Matt steps in for the rest of the year.
“This is the first time I’m doing it on my own,” she says. “It’s going to be a challenge. Matt is the most incredible dad. He actually had it in his wedding vows: ‘I cannot wait to be a stay-at-home dad.’”
Together for 15 years, the pair met when they both played touch for Auckland and, ever since, they’ve balanced each other out perfectly. The only thing they disagree on is who asked whom out first.
“It was definitely her,” says Matt, laughing, while Taylah looks at him in mock disbelief.
“It was him for sure!” she insists, adding, “We’re very different, but we make things work.”
A life-changing turning point
While they’ve ticked off plenty of achievements together, from travel to buying houses, both know what truly matters after a terrifying medical emergency in 2020 left Matt in a coma for six days following heart surgery.
“He’d come through two previous operations so well that doctors called him a medical mystery because he was back playing professional rugby within five months,” explains Taylah. “But the third went badly wrong. We didn’t know if he was going to survive.”
While Matt pulled through, his rugby career was over. Characteristically, he took it in his stride.
“It was a life-or-death situation, so I’m just grateful I’m still here,” he says. “That’s what made it easy – and the support of Taylah behind me.”
The retirement turned out to be a fresh beginning.
“Him having to retire early, in his prime, meant we could buy a house, be adults and think about kids,” Taylah says. “It actually allowed us to set up our roots early – and have MJ3, of course!”
Rugby runs in the family
MJ3 has clearly inherited the rugby gene. He already plays Rippa Rugby in a team of five-year-olds and is the same size as all of them!
He’s also very excited about becoming a big brother.
“The night before last, at 1.40am, he walked into our room holding six of his teddy bears,” recalls Taylah. “He goes, ‘Mummy, these are for my brother,’ and he put them around my belly. It was the cutest thing.”
Rugby, unsurprisingly, is the thread running through the whole family’s lives – the Johnsons don’t watch a game so much as analyse it.
Taylah explains, “When someone scores a try, the first question is, ‘How did they score that?’ Matt watches from a coaching perspective, while I’m watching from an analytical one.”
Matt adds, “She’s more of a code head than I am.
Since I stopped playing, I’m enjoying being a spectator.”
Finding balance
Taylah admits she’s had a rough pregnancy.
“It’s been a lot harder physically. I was sick from day dot and I didn’t stop throwing up until the third trimester.”
As the primary caregiver, she plans to take a month of leave before she returns to commentating rugby and basketball on Sky, while Matt returns to work.
“I’m really big on not letting having children slow you down or come at a cost to your own career or goals,” she says. “When I’m at home with the baby and I’m just a milk machine 24/7, I need something to look forward to. And to be honest, I’ll be watching more rugby because when I’m breastfeeding every two hours in the middle of the night, I’ll be watching Sky Sport!”
Rising above the noise
Taylah’s also acutely aware of how hard it was to be a working mum the first time – she was subjected to cruel comments online about her physical appearance, as well as doubts over her rugby knowledge.
“It’s really tough coming back after a baby. Not only do you get judged on what you’re saying but also how you look. That really contributed to the postpartum depression.
“People are so harsh and critical of anyone on TV, let alone a woman, because we always have to justify why we’re there. It’s almost like I have to walk around with a CV, going, ‘Here are my credentials. Can I say something now?’”
Luckily, at home, Taylah gets nothing but unconditional love and backing from her husband.
She smiles, “People say, ‘You’re on all these boards and you’re on TV. How do you do it?’ And I tell them, ‘Matt.’ All of this is only possible with having him as such a supportive dad.
He is Super Dad.”
Taylah will commentate the Super Rugby Aupiki final on 25 July on Sky Sport 1 and Sky Open.
