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Maggie Alphonsi
MBE

Maggie Alphonsi 2024
Date of birth	(1983-12-20) 20 December 1983 (age 40)
Place of birth	Lewisham, south London, England
Height	1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Weight	73 kg (161 lb; 11 st 7 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Flanker Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) – Saracens – (–) International career Years Team Apps (Points) 2003–2014  England 74 (140)

Margaret Omotayo Sanni Alphonsi MBE (born 20 December 1983) is an English former rugby union player who played as a flanker for Saracens W.R.F.C. and England before retiring in 2014. She was Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year in 2010, and was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in November 2016 during the opening ceremonies for the Hall's first physical location in Rugby, Warwickshire.

Alphonsi was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to rugby.

Life

Alphonsi was born in Lewisham, south London to a single-parent family. She was born with a club foot, which she had to overcome in order to play rugby.

Alphonsi was named in the 2014 World Cup Dream Team. She retired shortly after England won the 2014 World Cup in France and now coaches and promotes female participation and coaching in sport.

She was a Rugby World Cup 2015 Ambassador and is an ambassador of several not-for-profits and charities including Peace One Day, Wooden Spoon, Sporting Equals and SKRUM which aims to give the youth of Africa hope for the future through rugby.

She has played in two Rugby World Cups and in 2012 shared in a record seventh successive Six Nations title and a sixth Grand Slam in seven years. She won the Pat Marshall award from the Rugby Union Writers’ Club, where she pipped New Zealand captain, Richie McCaw, to become the first woman to claim the prize in its 50-year history. She joined Gareth Malone and other celebrities in making the 2014 Children in Need official single.

Alphonsi attempted to qualify to compete in the 2016 Rio Olympics in the shot put.

In 2019, she was on the voting panel for the World Rugby Men's 15 Player of the Year award, the World Rugby Team of the Year award, and World Rugby Coach of the Year award.

Alphonsi holds an MSc in Sports & Exercise from Roehampton University, a BSc in Sports & Exercise from De Montfort University, and a BTEC National Diploma in Leisure Studies from Hertford Regional College. She was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Arts by the University of Bedfordshire.

Alphonsi and her wife Marcella Collins have two children.

References

1. "Margaret Alphonsi – Official RFU England Profile". rfu.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
2. "World Rugby Hall of Fame: Jonny Wilkinson attends launch". BBC News Coventry and Warwickshire. 17 November 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
3. "No. 60173". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 June 2012. p. 13.
4. ^ "Maggie Alphonsi: From tough Lewisham upbringing to World Cup winner". Sky Sports. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
5. ^ Anna Kessel (28 February 2015). "England rugby union star Maggie Alphonsi taking a shot at Olympic gold | Sport". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
6. "Womens RWC – #WRWC2014 Dream Team revealed after fan vote". 19 August 2014. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
7. "Maggie Alphonsi | The official website for former England international rugby player Maggie Alphonsi MBE". maggiealphonsi.co.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
8. worldrugby.org. "World Rugby Awards Voting Panel". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
9. "Maggie Alphonsi | Advance HE". www.advance-he.ac.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
10. @MaggieAlphonsi (1 January 2023). "Happy New Years Day! 🎉 Happy New Baby Girl! 👶🏽 Today my wife and I welcomed baby number two, Willow Rebecca Alphonsi to our family. What a way to kick off 2023!! Thank you to the staff at Stoke Mandeville Hospital for your amazing support and care. We are truly grateful 🙏🏾" (Tweet). Retrieved 9 October 2023 – via Twitter.

• 1983 births
• Living people
• England women's international rugby union players
• English female rugby union players
• Rugby union flankers
• Members of the Order of the British Empire
• Black British sportswomen
• People from Lewisham
• Rugby union players from the London Borough of Lewisham
• English people of Nigerian descent
• Sportspeople of Nigerian descent
• World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees
• The Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year winners
• England international women's rugby sevens players
• Saracens Women rugby players
• English lesbian sportswomen
• British LGBTQ rugby union players
• Alumni of De Montfort University
• Alumni of the University of Roehampton
• 21st-century English sportswomen