Alphonsi won’t be to rub anyone up the wrong way during the World Cup
THE World Cup hasn’t even started but Maggie Alphonsi has already got under the skin of England prop Joe Marler good and proper. He didn’t take kindly to her claim that England looked ‘unfit and off the pace’ in their defeat to Ireland and took her to task over it.
He replied on X with two different emojis — one yawning, another sleeping — suggesting he was bored with her criticism.
‘It took Joe three days to come back at me and a couple of emojis was all he could come up with,’ said Alphonsi mischievously. ‘I am English, I want them to do well, but they were poor. It had to be said.’
Just like she was as a player, Alphonsi isn’t scared of anybody and will become a familiar figure to television audiences during the World Cup with her forthright views.
The England 2014 World Cup winner certainly isn’t one to mince her words on anything and, asked if she thinks Scotland will qualify from their World Cup group, she answers with a blunt ‘no’.
‘But that’s only because South Africa look to have all the momentum going into the opening match after that incredible win over New Zealand,’ she said. ‘Also, Ireland are the No1 team in the world for a reason, they always find a way to win.
‘Scotland do have some top-class players and Finn Russell is a real gamechanger. As a back-row player, I enjoy watching Jamie Ritchie, who is an impressive captain. Jack Dempsey has been doing well at eight and I am a big Hamish Watson fan — if he gets a chance in the World Cup, he can make an impression.
‘If I am looking for positives against South Africa it has to be Duhan van der Merwe. Get him on the ball then he can do some damage.
‘My concern for Scotland is that they have started slowly in their warm-up games, even going in behind against Georgia at half-time. You do have some real talent there but the draw has not been kind.
‘For me, it is going to be a South Africa against France final with France winning. They may not have Romain Ntamack but, with the home support, they can win it.’
The 39-year old (below), who has two children with her wife Marcella, has been watching the advances in the women’s game in Scotland and was delighted that Scottish Rugby appointed their first female president back in 2018 when Dee Bradbury took over the top job.
‘That was great to see and it was a big breakthrough,’ said Alphonsi, who unsuccessfully stood to be the RFU president. ‘It didn’t happen for me but it is great that Debbie Griffin will take over as the RFU’s first female president in 2025.
‘Scotland got their first which is good for them.
‘But there has to be a door open to give women the chance — an equal chance — to reach the top, these can’t be one-offs. ‘The Scotland women’s team continues to improve and Matt Banahan (former England international) is a good addition to their coaching team. It comes down to investment and support for them going forward.’
She believes the perception of women’s rugby is improving all the time and uses as an example an awards ceremony in Glasgow where she was named the 2006 IRB international women’s ‘personality’ of the year. ‘Strictly speaking it was women’s player of the year and it was the year Richie McCaw won the IRB international player of the year and he was called that,’ recalled Alphonsi as she promoted her newly-released biography Winning The Fight.
‘The women’s game didn’t have the visibility or standing it does now and certainly wasn’t given the acknowledgement it has now, hence the phrasing of my award as personality, rather than player of the year. That wouldn’t happen in awards ceremonies now as it was a different world back then. Women’s rugby is growing all the time and there are role models out there for young players.’