Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union chairman Hayden Swann said Robinson confirmed that in his five years as chief executive, it was the first time the board had met at a Heartland union.
The NZR group was formally welcomed on Friday by Sir Derek Lardelli at Trust Tairāwhiti.
“Cooper kept referring to Gisborne as his tūrangawaewae [standing place],” Swann said. “He was reiterating his connection to here. His father, Pat Cooper, played for Poverty Bay.“
Pat Cooper, a Marist player, appeared for Poverty Bay twice and the Olympians once in 1963.
Robertson attended the Gisborne Boys’ High School First XV Super 8 clash against Napier Boys’ High School at the Rectory grounds on Friday.
Swann said Robertson, a keen surfer, also visited a surf shop.
Robertson told Swann he had a previous commitment on Saturday and had originally been unaware of the traditional King’s Birthday fixture between Ngāti Porou East Coast and Poverty Bay in Ruatōria, otherwise he would have been keen to attend the match.
The Gisborne connections of NZR board members Greg Barclay (born and bred in Gisborne) and Doug Jones (chief executive of Trust Tairāwhiti) are well known, but Swann said Caren Rangi also had strong ties to the district as a former deputy chairwoman of Eastern and Central Community Trust.
“We made the board feel at home in Gisborne,” Swann said.
The host union demonstrated manaakitanga (hospitality, kindness) – “we put our best foot forward.”
Swann said it was a significant and memorable weekend for the NZR board and the Poverty Bay union.
It was an opportunity to get to know each other and build a relationship while the NZR board was also exposed to the community fabric of grassroots unions like Poverty Bay and East Coast.
They did not normally get that time and experience, Swann said.
The members of the two rugby boards, after dining together on Friday night, met at Rugby Park on Saturday morning at the union’s new offices and also watched a T1 school-level rugby match.
T1 is a new format of rugby launched by NZR. It is non-contact but features scrums, lineouts, breakdowns and kicking.
Swann said NZR board member Keven Mealamu, a 132-cap All Black, was popular with the players and was very obliging with requests for autographs and selfies.
The NZR board members were told about the “pathways” available from here and “our place in the ecosystem”.
The Poverty Bay union aimed to nurture schools and clubs and players, and if they were good enough, they could move on to National Provincial Championship (NPC) unions.
Andrew Tauatevalu, who played 35 games for Poverty Bay before heading to Hawke’s Bay, was a recent example of that. His first (and signed) Hawke’s Bay jersey is on display in the Poverty Bay union office.
Another framed jersey shown to the NZR board was a “Damo’s Day” jersey from a fundraising venture to support the families of three men who died in a fishing incident in June of last year – among them highly respected referee Damian Macpherson.
The jersey showed rugby could play a significant role in the community, Swann said.
The office also has on display a Poverty Bay jersey representing the 135-year history of the union.
The Poverty Bay and NZR board members spoke about the Rugby Park grandstand and ground redevelopment.
NZR has a $60 million legacy fund with funding of $2.5m available.
Swan said Poverty Bay would apply for funding “to hopefully make a decent contribution” to the lighting at the park.
Swann said East Coast were wonderful hosts for the King’s Birthday fixture – a great derby fixture played on a sunny day.
“Obviously the game didn’t go our way,” he said of the Coast’s 28-22 win – their first King’s Birthday victory since the Coast’s centenary in 2022.
Swann said the Poverty Bay union was “excited” to be hosting East Coast in the opening week of the 2025 Heartland Championship.
The August 16 fixture will be the first match at Rugby Park since its multimillion-dollar redevelopment began.
Rugby Park has a new playing surface, but work on the grandstand will not be completed until next year.
