Rugby's Ross Cooper 'I COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT JUDY!'

The former All Black selector made the perfect match when it came to love

- FLEUR GUTHRIE

Ross Cooper knew he'd found the woman for him after walking into his Rotorua flat and laying eyes on an athletic brunette standing on her head in the lounge.

Although the rugby stalwart will have you believe it was his physique that caught her attention! “Judy had come around to our flat to do some yoga with a teaching colleague I flatted with,” recalls Ross, 73.

“She was upside down in the lotus position. I walked past and the first thing she noticed was my incredibly muscly legs.”

“Oh, I did not,” retorts Judy, 78, laughing, proving their comedic to-and-fro is a key ingredient in their timeless love.

“We were both simply school teachers who just hit it off right from the start. We’ve always enjoyed a lovely connection.”

Chatting to the Weekly from their sunny home in Waihi, the retired couple is not only celebrating 50 years of marriage, but Ross was also named as a King’s Service Medal recipient in this year’s King’s Birthday Honours.

The recognition has left him feeling “incredibly proud and humbled”, as he reflects on more than five decades of service to rugby, with Judy as his biggest supporter.

Born in Te Kūiti, Ross played as a loose forward for Wairarapa-Bush, Centurions and the Thames Valley Rugby Union, serving as captain.

After being “bitten by the coaching bug”, he moved on to be a senior coach for Thames Valley, Counties Manukau and the Chiefs Super Rugby Team. He then became a selector for various New Zealand age-grade and Heartland teams.

It was while Ross was an All Blacks selector and assistant coach from 1994 to 1999, that he counts one of his proudest moments: being part of the All Blacks coaching team, led by John Hart, which made history in 1996.

The team, captained by Sean Fitzpatrick, secured its first-ever New Zealand test series victory on South African soil.