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Maggie Alphonsi: ‘Female rugby players were viewed as second-class citizens’

That’s not to suggest the former Saracens and England flanker isn’t proud of her achievements in rugby union.

Her resume includes seven consecutive Six Nations victories and a World Cup winner’s medal from 2014. Few players have done more to alter the public’s opinion of women’s basketball.

But she’s finally ready to recognize her value in a sport she’s worked so hard to mold.

“My journey as a female rugby player, you always felt like you were being treated as a second-class citizen, but you were also really grateful, which is a weird contradiction,” she says.

“I look back now and I’m extremely furious at myself for saying things like, ‘I’m just thankful to be here, I’m grateful to play for my country, I’m grateful to be an ambassador for a great tournament.’

“Someone from the outside needs to look in and say, ‘That is not OK, that is not acceptable.'”

“And now I’m on the outside, I like to think I’m the one doing that.”

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