Maggie Alphonsi: Female Inspiration Driving Change On and Off the Pitch

Maggie Alphonsi, the trailblazing England rugby icon, has become a symbol of female inspiration on and off the pitch.

A World Cup winner, Hall of Fame inductee, and seven-time Six Nations champion, she broke barriers in a sport long dominated by men.

Today, Maggie channels her experience into empowering others—sharing her insights on leadership, resilience, and equality with audiences around the world.

In this exclusive interview with Champions Speakers Agency, she reflects on her proudest milestones, offers advice for women striving to succeed in male-dominated industries, and discusses the ongoing fight for equality in sport.

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Q: What is your proudest achievement on and off the pitch?

Maggie Alphonsi: “So my proudest achievement on and off the pitch I would say has to be, there’s two things I’m going to say. One, winning a Rugby World Cup is incredibly special.

“So in 2014 my England team won a World Cup that was held in France. Now, it’s a huge achievement because the England women‘s team hadn’t done it for 20 years – the last time was back in 1994 – and the men had obviously done it in 2003. So that was significant.

“I’d say my real proudest achievement for me had to be changing the perception of women’s rugby. When I played, people would say that the women’s game is more physical and aggressive, so being part of that change and getting people to respect and acknowledge women’s rugby was huge.

“I’ll say those two things, plus also getting a degree and a Masters has been significant as well to myself. There’s been plenty of things, but I would probably say those are the key things that stand out to me.”

Q: As a pioneer of growth and interest in women’s rugby, what advice would you give women in male-dominated sports and business industries?

Maggie Alphonsi: “So the advice I would give to women in a male-dominated industry or environment would be to be authentic – so be yourself. One of the biggest challenges I had when I first came into, I would say, a male-dominated environment when working in broadcasting, was that I almost tried to be like the men around me. I lost myself, if I’m honest, and that was really evident. I wasn’t being myself, I wasn’t enjoying my experiences working in that environment.

“So I’d encourage women to be their authentic self, back themselves as well and have confidence in themselves. For some reason, when we’re in that environment, we feel like we shouldn’t speak up, or we feel like our voice shouldn’t be heard, or we feel like it isn’t being heard.

“I think it’s important to recognise it’s not necessarily the person who is the issue – it’s the environment that is probably more of a responsibility and is causing a problem.

“So I would say for those women in those environments – back themselves, make sure their voice is heard, be their authentic self, don’t be afraid to interrupt or challenge. I think that’s incredibly important.

“I’m not going to say it’s easy, because it isn’t, but I have found an environment I work in with regards to broadcasting in particular, where I’m part of the team and my gender or my race is not a conversation anymore – it’s about what I know, and that’s the key thing now.”

Q: Do you think we have achieved equality in rugby and sport in general?

Maggie Alphonsi: “Do I feel we’ve achieved equality in rugby and sport in general? I would say we are not there yet. We have progressed significantly.

“If we talk about rugby in particular – when I came into the sport back in, I’d say, 1999, women’s rugby wasn’t very popular. It wasn’t common for girls to take up the sport in school, so back then it wasn’t normal for women or girls to play the sport.

“Now, we fast forward to 2023, and it is quite common for women and girls to play the sport – but there are still areas of inequality with regards to pay. Facilities are improving now. We’re starting to see more rugby clubs that are very much equipped for women and girls taking up the sport, and they’re much more welcoming, but we’ve still got those inequalities.

“It’s progressing, it is improving, and we see that across sport generally. There was a stage when you would say women and girls wouldn’t play football – now, wow, it’s a dominant sport for women and girls.

“So I would say we are progressing, we’re moving forward, women are getting paid to play, but there are still areas of improvement. We’re not where our ultimate aim would be, but there has been massive progression.

“We’re now starting to see sponsors focus on sponsoring the women’s sides where previously it would just be the men’s. Now you see contracts being discussed that sponsor both men’s and women’s teams. So we are progressing, we are moving forward – probably not where we want to be yet, but definitely in the right direction.”

This exclusive interview with Maggie Alphonsi was conducted by Megan Lupton of The Motivational Speakers Agency.