Maggie Alphonsi is renowned for her decorated career as a professional rugby player, who played 74 times for England, scored 28 tries and was part of the winning team of the 2014 Rugby World Cup. As part of the England squad for 11 years, Maggie was also an instrumental player in 7 Six Nations titles. Today, Maggie is a prominent figure in sports media, often seen commentating on sports for major broadcasters. Aside from her commentary work, Maggie is also a sought-after keynote speaker, and she has been hired by clients such as Sky, Amazon, HSBC, and GSK.
Maggie’s decorated career with the England National Rugby team began back in 2003, alongside playing as a flanker for the Saracens. Named the Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year in 2010, one of Maggie’s greatest achievements was being named to the “Dream Team” that won the 2014 Rugby World Cup. She was also an instrumental player in Six Nations matches, was the 2015 Rugby World Cup Ambassador and earned the coveted Pat Marshall Award from the Rugby Union Writers’ Club. Retiring in 2014, Maggie’s decorated career was honoured with induction into the World Rugby Hall of Fame and an MBE for Services to Rugby.
Upon her retirement, Maggie has focused on coaching and encouraging women to pursue male-dominated sports – a true role model to the next generation of sporting superstars. She has also become a commentator on live rugby for Sky Sports, BT Sports and the BBC, and the major highlight was when she became the first ever former female player to commentate on men’s international rugby when she was signed by ITV to cover the Rugby World Cup. She was also the first former female player to become a columnist for a national newspaper, sharing her thoughts in The Telegraph. Maggie is also renowned for becoming the first England women’s player to be elected as a National Member of the Rugby Football Union’s Council, prominently taking on a leading role in the Diversity & Inclusion Steering Group.
Now hired as a leading keynote speaker, Maggie Alphonsi uses her prominence as a former rugby player to inspire, having experienced firsthand the challenging world of male-dominated sport. From corporate businesses to sporting events, audiences praise Maggie for sharing her thoughts on topics such as leadership, understanding pressure, overcoming adversity, working in a male-dominated environment, pressure management and the psychology of winning. With previous clients including the likes of Clifford Chance LLP and P&G, don’t miss your opportunity to hire former professional rugby player turned commentator and powerful keynote speaker Maggie Alphonsi for your next event!
Social Media
Books
Winning the Fight: My Autobiography
Reviews
Maggie Alphonsi received a 5 star rating across 10 events in 2024
Agent Recommendation
"Maggie Alphonsi is an inspiring powerhouse, on and off the rugby field. A World Cup winner and Hall of Fame inductee, she’s broken barriers as a trailblazing athlete, commentator, and speaker. With clients like Amazon and HSBC, Maggie brings unmatched insight on leadership, resilience, and high performance. Her story captivates audiences and motivates change. For events seeking impact, Maggie delivers excellence, authenticity, and inspiration in every word."
When she's at corporate events, Margaret is known to cover the following topics:
- Leadership
- Understanding Pressure
- The Psychology Of Winning
- Transferring Skills
- Pressure Management
- Challenging Perceptions
- Working in a Male Environment
- Mentoring & Coaching Performance Mindsets
- Pitch to Boardroom
- Overcoming Adversity
Official Feedback from In-Person & Virtual Events
Feedback from In-Person Events:
"Helen (Richardson-Walsh) and Maggie were fantastic and were a great duo - two great stories and very relevant... everyone loved them!" - James, Sales & Marketing Director, Saville Assessment
"Maggie Alphonsi's session!! So inspirational and gave me so much energy" - Sky
"The feedback after she spoke has been really phenomenal, I’ve genuinely rarely heard such enthusiastic praise for a speaker at any of our events before! It was the perfect way to finish the event, and Maggie brought some real magic to the way she presented and the way she managed to involve the people in the room too." - Tom, Director of Marketing, IAB UK
"Firstly, I just need to say WOW!!! Maggie was super fun, approachable and her story was great. Also, the way she interacted with the audience was great... blown away... feedback on the day was great too." - Women in Protection Executive Committee
"Maggie was amazing! So many people felt so inspired and I think we should get her back in to a do a larger scale kick-off event at some point, really great content and delivery and got us all talking." - Sarah, Fintech Account Manager, Amazon
"Maggie was fantastic! Engaging, entertaining, thought-provoking... everything I'd hoped for and more. The feedback I'm already seeing internally from SB leaders reflects this and is full of praise." - Marc, Head of Legal, Simply Business
"I cannot emphasise how amazing she was, the session was incredible and everyone thought she was fantastic!" - Amy, Events Content Producer, B2B Marketing
"In total we had over 110+ employees join us for the event and the reception, engagement and outpouring of gratitude for hearing Maggie's story but related this to the business environment, which meant that all attendees were able to relate and take home something from the session. We all left thoroughly inspired! Thank you for your support in setting the session up - it is massively appreciated and we look forward to working with you again in the future!" - Alex, GBS HR Business Account Manager, P&G
"Having heard lots about what a great addition to an event Maggie would be, she did not disappoint - from the moment she arrived, her warm smile and easy manner made her a fantastic guest - she was happy to be interviewed, delivering passionate viewpoints about her personal story in rugby then chatting effortlessly to staff - and then taking part in a very honest way in our panel discussion - finally, joining us for drinks and more chatting after, she was just brilliant and inspiring - as well as incredibly honest which is so refreshing. We really enjoyed having her and everyone commented that she was a fantastic addition to the event." - Philippa, Clifford Chance LLP
"Maggie was our guest speaker at our inaugural International Women’s Day event and it couldn’t have gone better. She was relatable to both the men & women in the room and her personal stories were both funny and inspiring. We were delighted with how the event went and we are very appreciative that she stayed behind to talk to our Associates." - Louise, Lockton LLP
"I have to say the event was a re-sounding success. Maggie without a doubt was brilliant!! One heck of an inspirational speaker."- Harjinder, HSBC
"Please may you pass on a huge thanks to Maggie for taking the time to talk with our team and share her wisdom. We have already received terrific feedback on how engaging and actionable her talk was. Maggie's talk was extremely thought provoking and insightful in conveying what it means to be an accountable leader as well as energising the group." - Mollie, Deepmind
I cannot emphasize enough how amazing she was, the session was incredible and everyone thought she was fantastic! - Amy, Event Content Producer, B2B Marketing
It was brilliant - Maggie was amazing! - Kim, The Very Group
"Maggie was fantastic last night; everyone thoroughly enjoyed her talk and have been saying how wonderful she was." -Hayley, Regional Coordinator, Jones Day
"We all thoroughly enjoyed Maggie’s discussion today, it was so insightful. We had multiple watch parties across different GSK sites and peaked at over 100 attendees who listened in. The light-hearted notes Maggie brought into the talk made it incredibly entertaining. I’ve come away feeling inspired, with some key actions to improve my leadership abilities." - Jana, GSK
"Maggie was truly inspirational. It was the most interactive tea break session we have ever had. I am so happy that I booked Maggie to speak to us during Black History Month. She is so relatable and relevant; I would not hesitate to recommend Maggie Alphonsi." — Dee, Network Rail
Feedback from Virtual Events:
"Maggie was a great speaker - very engaging and interesting, and we had fantastic feedback from the event. Maggie was very easy to work with as well, and polite and punctual which was brilliant. Overall, we are very happy with the services we were provided and would definitely recommend Champions and Maggie." - Lauren, Brand & Communications Manager, CACI
"Please send my thanks to Maggie, the event was fantastic! We've had great feedback from the attendees who described Maggie as really insightful, personable and down-to-earth. Thank you so much for your help to organise this." - SNYK
"Maggie was really strong on the topic and extremely articulate so we would love to work with her again at some point. Please thank her for her time" - Lisa, Inclusion, Wellbeing & Community Senior Manager, Flutter
"It was superb. Maggie was really strong on the topic and extremely articulate so would love to work with her again at some point." - Paddy Power
"Maggie is an incredibly inspirational speaker. Her presentation was topical and acknowledged the important role that teachers, PE and sport plays in lives. She presented with high energy, emotion, empathy and humour and ignited the audience. She was awesome!" - Mike, National Association For Physical Education
"Maggie was a fantastic speaker, she was so easy to work with and made our lives very easy – she completely nailed the theme and was fully prepared and polished from start to finish. The attendees absolutely loved her – she created a welcoming and interactive atmosphere, and was undeniably a fantastically open, personable (and funny!) speaker. Her content was applicable to all and everyone took a message away from her talk – the compliments are still flooding in as we speak!" - Olivia, Reed Smith
"Just wanted to say how fantastic Maggie was on our live event. If you could pass on our huge thanks to her please, I’d be really grateful." - Lisa, Internal Communications Manager, Polaris Community
"For Black History Month (UK/Netherlands), we had the honour of having Maggie Alphonsi for a speaker session. Maggie shared her powerful story of resilience, determination, and breaking barriers in her career to challenge perspectives and adversity. Maggie’s motivating story, as well as her ability to continuously engage the audience, allowed everyone to leave the session with something meaningful. By sharing her lived experience, Maggie embodied this year’s Black History Month theme ‘Reclaiming Narratives,’ reminding us that we can all be the change we want to see." — Maame Dei, DEI Specialist, WildBrain
“We had an exceptionally smooth booking process with Laura and Mark from Champions. They assisted us in selecting a guest speaker for our internal event with remarkable ease, despite multiple questions and delays. Maggie Alphonsi was incredible and really engaged with employees. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with many stating she was the best speaker they had ever seen and that her message resonated well with individuals. Our leadership team considered her the standout of the event and expressed eagerness to hire her again. We were thoroughly impressed with how Champions organised the briefing calls and facilitated our connection with Maggie.” - Freya, Unilever
- 2023 - Author of "Winning the Fight: My Autobiography"
- 2018 - Director of the Vitality Champions Programme
- 2016 - The first England Women's player to be elected as a National Member of the Rugby Football Union's Council
- 2015 - Rugby World Cup Ambassador
- 2014 - Named in the 2014 World Cup "Dream Team", winning the World Cup with England
- Ambassador of Peace One Day, Wooden Spoon, Sporting Equals & SKRUM
How to hire Maggie Alphonsi
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Maggie Alphonsi for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do NOT accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
