Maggie Alphonsi: “My goal is to be the president of the RFU. There has never been a woman in the role and certainly there has never been a black person"
Thursday 11 June 2020 18:02, UK
England Women’s World Cup winner Maggie Alphonsi says she wants to become RFU president one day, citing a need for “advocates in positions of influence.”
Alphonsi, who has been capped 74 times by her country, is keen to play her part in making rugby more inclusive - currently she is the only black person sitting on the 61-strong RFU council - with women also under-represented.
The killing of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement has brought the issue of racial equality into sharp focus and Alphonsi is keen to bring about positive change at the highest levels of English rugby.
"It isn't good enough that I am the only black person on the council, though I do believe there is a genuine want from the game to change things, and I want to be in there to make that happen," she told the Scrum Queens website.
"My goal is to be the president of the RFU. There has never been a woman in the role and certainly there has never been a black person.
"That is the level I think you have to get to get people to stop and listen so that is the level you have to aim at."
The diversity of the England men's team and the increasing number of young boys from BAME backgrounds taking up the game has been a positive move in recent years.
Such improvements have not been so evident in the women's game, however, an area Alphonsi feels needs looking at.
"That has felt quite noticeable," Alphonsi added.
"There has obviously been a huge focus on growing the women's and girls' game and that's happening across lots of sports - not just rugby.
"Because the numbers are going up, the uncomfortable conversations about the ethnicity within those numbers has been largely absent."
