NZ Rugby's first female president on why visibility matters

Contented co-founder Hannah Hardy-Jones recently met with New Zealand Rugby's new president, Erin Rush. Naturally, Hannah recorded the conversation with Contented, and used the platform to produce this brilliant article brimming with insights on the reality of Erin being the first female in her role.

I recently sat down with Erin Rush, and within the first few minutes of our conversation, I mentioned something that made her smile. My daughter had seen her on television presenting George Bower with his 100 game trophy, and she loved that she was the first female President. It prompted me to reach out for this interview.

"That’s exactly what I hope happens," Erin said.

"I want girls and women who love rugby to see there’s a place for them to contribute and lead."

A week before our conversation, Erin became the first female president of New Zealand Rugby. Not the first in the world - England and Australia reached that milestone earlier - but a moment that was, in her words, "long overdue".

The sliding door moment

Erin's rugby journey began in 1989 with what she describes as a "sliding doors moment". In her second year at university in Christchurch, she casually mentioned to her flatmate that she had seen some women training on a nearby field. Soon after, she received a call on the landline from someone asking if she wanted to join.

"I'm not even sure what I said in response," she laughed. "But I just turned up to training, and here we are."

That chance moment sparked decades of involvement in the game. She played through the 1990s, during a period when women’s rugby was beginning to receive more serious investment and support. World Cups were launched, sponsorship increased, and the women’s game started to evolve rapidly.

When her playing days ended, she stayed deeply involved through her children’s junior rugby, volunteering on committees, serving as a sighting commissioner, becoming a club president, and eventually being nominated as New Zealand Rugby (NZR) vice president two years ago.

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The reality of being first

On the morning of our interview, Erin received a message from someone at New Zealand Rugby: "Don't read the social media comments."

She has been called a "woke hire", dismissed as a diversity appointment, and criticised by people who, as she put it, "clearly haven't seen the years and years I've put into rugby".

When I asked how she deals with it, she said the negativity is outweighed by the support she receives from people she knows, and many she doesn’t. She recalled broadcaster Kirsty Stanaway telling her: "You should see what they say about me."

It reminded me of something Contented co-founder Lucy and I experienced recently. After raising capital, we received a comment suggesting one of the reasons we secured investment was because we were women. It is remarkable how quickly some people try to diminish achievement when they cannot explain it.

Why visibility matters

Representation matters because it works. My daughter seeing Erin on stage in a male-dominated governance role clearly left an impression. Then when I asked Alice what her favourite part of the recent Six60 concert was, she immediately said: "When the Black Ferns came on stage."

For Erin, that is exactly the point. She wants girls and women who love rugby to understand there are pathways beyond simply playing the game. There are opportunities in governance, administration, officiating, coaching and leadership.

"If I wasn’t in real estate, I’d probably be applying for roles at World Rugby," she said, referring to opportunities connected to next year’s World Cup in Australia. "I look at them and think, that would be incredible."

The challenge, she believes, is that many young people simply do not know these opportunities exist.

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"We still tend to push students toward the traditional careers -lawyer, accountant, doctor. But there are so many other pathways people don’t even realise are available."

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Her advice was simple: stay curious, reach out to people, ask questions, and use platforms like LinkedIn to explore possibilities.

"What's the worst that can happen?" she said. "Someone says no."

The work ahead: junior rugby and the parent challenge

While Erin is excited about the growth of women’s rugby from the Black Ferns to coaching and refereeing initiatives, her greatest passion remains community and junior rugby.

And this is where she sees one of the biggest challenges facing the game: parent confidence. Many parents who never played rugby themselves assume they are not qualified to coach or get involved.

"You really don’t need much at all to coach Rippa Rugby," she said.

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"You don't have to be an expert. You just have to be willing to give it a go."

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More parents today, both men and women, did not grow up playing rugby themselves. As a result, they do not naturally see themselves stepping into those first coaching roles. Without those volunteers, however, grassroots rugby struggles.

Erin has spent a lot of time thinking about how to rebuild that confidence. How do you reassure parents that coaching 6-year-olds does not require elite rugby experience? That simply encouraging kids, teaching teamwork, and helping them enjoy the game is enough?

Then there is another challenge entirely: concern around head injuries. I mentioned that even with my 9-year-old son playing rugby, I have had parents say to me: "Isn't that dangerous because of concussion?"

Erin leaned forward immediately. This is clearly an issue she cares deeply about.

"This is something we need to communicate better as New Zealand Rugby," she said. "The reality is that serious injuries in junior rugby are incredibly rare."

She acknowledged that parents often watch professional rugby, with the collisions, the concussion protocols, the physical intensity, and project that onto children's rugby. But junior rugby is entirely different.

"They’re thinking about Super Rugby hits," she said. "Not kids playing Ripper Rugby on a Saturday morning."

Erin believes the answer is not dismissing those concerns, but better education and support for parents.

"You have to work with parents," she said thoughtfully. "Because those concerns come from a place of care."

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Leadership without labels

When I asked whether her leadership style had been shaped by being a woman, Erin gently rejected the premise.

"I don't really see it as a male or female thing," she said. "It’s just who I am."

Her philosophy is grounded in consistency, integrity and curiosity. Keep learning. Lead from the front. Look after the people and organisations you already work with, rather than constantly chasing what is next.

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"I want to still be able to walk down the street in ten years and have people feel good about the decisions they made working with me."

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Since stepping into the role, her publicly listed phone number (available through her real estate work) has generated a constant stream of calls. Some people genuinely want guidance. Others mistakenly assume the president of NZR personally runs every aspect of the game.

She laughs about it now, but it speaks to the visibility that comes with being first.

The ripple effect

What struck me most about Erin's story wasn't simply that she became the first female president of New Zealand Rugby. It was how she got there. Through decades of volunteering. Showing up. Saying yes to opportunities she did not fully understand at the time. Staying connected to the parts of the game she loved most.

And now, girls like my daughter can look at her and think: maybe I could do that too. Not just play rugby. Lead it. That is the power of visibility. The power of representation. The power of being willing to step forward, even when criticism comes with it.

As Erin said herself, the moment was overdue.

But someone still had to step into it.

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