She blew the whistle at the opening match of the historic first women’s Super Rugby Aupiki competition in 2022 which the Matatū lost to Chiefs Manawa — Gisborne’s Renee Holmes playing for Matatū at fullback.
Cogger-Orr made her international test debut at the Women’s Six Nations that year and went on to referee at the Women’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.
Her position with NZR has her travelling the country holding refereeing clinics targeted for women to show they can make it in a role that is predominantly male across Heartland, National Provincial Championship, Super Rugby Pacific and international level.
“I’m pushing for women to be included in all of these spaces,” Cogger-Orr said.
“Part of my role is to make sure that as the competitions grow, we grow our female match officials as well.”
Cogger-Orr said that she felt “very fortunate” to be involved.
“It allows me to make a long-term change that is going to benefit women that are already involved as match officials. The most exciting part is that it is going to benefit people five, 10 to 30 years from now.
“It is going to allow me to help provincial unions like Poverty Bay, who are doing really good stuff, to get to a point where it’s normal to see women refereeing rugby.”
She wants to break down the stigma that goes with women refereeing men’s games to make it more normalised as it has happened in other codes.
“There are so many codes where it is common.,” Cogger-Orr said.
“In touch rugby, almost everybody would have been refereed by a man or a woman, and nobody bats an eyelid about it.
“We are probably still not at the point in rugby union yet . . . that’s the exciting part.”
One of her most memorable moments was during New Zealand’s Heartland Championship competition in which Wairarapa Bush were hosting back-to-back champions South Canterbury.
“I remember the atmosphere of getting to be in Masterton and seeing the full stand and all these families.
“As an immigrant, when I think of New Zealand rugby this is what I picture because it is the heart of these communities.
“The players are playing for where they’re from. It’s not the same as NPC or Super Rugby. Those are great competitions and I love refereeing them, but there’s something really integral about Heartland that I love being a part of. There’s something really special about being able to be involved in a competition like that.
“Even last year, I had the fortune of reffing Poverty Bay when they played Thames Valley, and you could see how much it meant to everyone involved.
“The Heartland games have been the ones that have really stood out to me. You feel a real sense of meaning to the ones you are refereeing. It’s quite unique.”
Her main focus, however, is to inspire a new wave of women’s referees.
“My number one goal is to help women in New Zealand understand how much refereeing can offer them in terms of friendships, life skills, the ability to manage conflict, to have tough conversations and to put yourself out there.
“In that sense, refereeing has so much to offer women but also refereeing has so much to gain from more women getting involved.”
She believes women have a natural ability to use in refereeing.
“If you have ever seen a mum operate a play date, they’re already refereeing.
“They manage a bunch of kids running around in a playground. They have eyes in the back of their heads. They’re already doing it. If anything, all we are doing is giving them a whistle.”
Cogger-Orr will be back in Gisborne in April to hold an introduction to refereeing workshop with accreditation that will see potential candidates given a pathway to officiating levels up to under-19.
Any inquiries about the workshop should be directed to Poverty Bay Rugby Football
Union.
