Women's Rugby Speakers: Red Roses To Book

Women's rugby speakers are the most under-booked group in the sport relative to what they offer. The Red Roses have dominated international rugby for a decade, and the players are available at a fraction of what a men's World Cup winner from 2003 commands.

The nine below are all on the PepTalk roster, all current or recent England internationals. Five of them sit in the £2,000 to £5,000 band, which is where a comparable men's name would be a five-figure booking.

What do women's rugby speakers bring to a corporate audience?

The obvious material is the same as any elite sport: high-pressure decision making, resilience, team cohesion. Several of this group deliver exactly that, and deliver it well.

What makes the group distinctive is the second subject most of them carry. These are athletes who built a professional career in a sport that was not professional when they started, alongside jobs, without the infrastructure their male counterparts had. That produces genuinely different material on culture change, being early to something, and performing without support systems in place. For an audience working through change or building something new, it lands harder than another World Cup final anecdote.

Zoe Aldcroft OBE

Book Zoe for

Captaincy and decision making under pressure, from the captain who won a home World Cup.

Zoe Aldcroft, now Zoe Stratford, captained the England Red Roses to the 2025 World Cup title on home soil and was World Rugby's 15s Player of the Year. She works with organisations on resilience, high-pressure decision making and team cohesion.

That is the argument for booking her. A captain who lifted the World Cup at Twickenham talking about how a team is held together is describing something still fresh, and she has multiple Six Nations titles behind her. £6,000 to £10,000.

Learn more and book Zoe Aldcroft →

Sarah Hunter CBE

Book Sarah for

High-performance culture, from a player who became a coach of the same team.

Sarah Hunter is England's most-capped rugby player, a former captain, a World Cup winner and World Rugby Player of the Year. She is now the Red Roses' defence coach, part of the staff behind the 2025 World Cup win, which is the detail that matters here.

Having led a team and then taken responsibility for building the next version of it gives her a perspective few sports speakers have. She works on resilience and inclusive leadership, and she can talk about succession and handover credibly, because she has been on both sides of it. At £2,000 to £5,000 she is the strongest value on this page.

Learn more and book Sarah Hunter →

Abbie Ward

Book Abbie for

Maternity, return to work and changing a policy that did not exist.

Abbie Ward captains Bristol Bears, is a Grand Slam winner and World Cup finalist with the Red Roses, and returned to professional rugby after having a child at a point when the pathway for doing so barely existed.

She campaigned for maternity provision in professional sport and helped change it. For an organisation working on parental leave, retention of women after childbirth or return-to-work policy, she is a speaker with direct experience of forcing an institution to catch up. That is a different session from a resilience keynote, and a more useful one for an HR or DEI audience. £6,000 to £10,000.

Learn more and book Abbie Ward →

Maggie Alphonsi CBE

Book Maggie for

Being first into a room that was not built for you.

Maggie Alphonsi won the World Cup with 74 international caps, then became the first woman to commentate on men's international rugby. She also works in rugby governance, so she has changed the sport from inside the structure as well as on the pitch.

Her material covers building resilient teams, inclusive leadership and mental toughness, but the story underneath it is being the first person to do something in a place that had not expected you. That is a strong fit for an inclusion event or a leadership programme, and at £2,000 to £5,000 the pricing does not reflect the profile.

Learn more and book Maggie Alphonsi →

Five more women's rugby speakers

These five cover corporate coaching, Olympic sevens, youth engagement and women's leadership.

Heather Fisher

A World Cup winner, Olympian and Team GB bobsledder who now coaches executive teams on authentic leadership and culture. She has delivered for McKinsey, Deloitte and NatWest, so the corporate track record is already established. £2,000 to £5,000.

Learn more and book Heather Fisher →

Catherine Spencer

Captained England to the 2010 World Cup final, wrote Mud, Maul, Mascara and founded an agency for female speakers. She works on inclusive cultures and confident leadership, and understands the speaking industry from the other side of the desk. £2,000 to £5,000.

Learn more and book Catherine Spencer →

Ellie Kildunne MBE

World Rugby Women's Player of the Year, an Olympic rugby player and a Team Barbie role model, with a Grand Slam behind her. The most visible name here to a younger audience, and a leading advocate for girls' confidence in sport. £6,000 to £10,000.

Learn more and book Ellie Kildunne →

Mo Hunt

A World Cup champion, Team GB Olympic sevens athlete and Premier 15s Player of the Year, playing at scrum half. Sevens and fifteens demand different things, which gives her practical material on adapting to a changed set of rules. £6,000 to £10,000.

Learn more and book Mo Hunt →

Zoe Harrison

A World Cup-winning England fly-half, triple Premiership champion with Saracens and a four-time Six Nations Grand Slam winner. Fly-half is the decision-making position on the pitch, which is the angle she brings to strategic thinking under pressure. £6,000 to £10,000.

Learn more and book Zoe Harrison →

How much does a women's rugby speaker cost?

Sarah Hunter, Maggie Alphonsi, Heather Fisher and Catherine Spencer sit at £2,000 to £5,000. Zoe Aldcroft, Abbie Ward, Ellie Kildunne, Mo Hunt and Zoe Harrison sit at £6,000 to £10,000.

For comparison, men's World Cup winners on the same roster run from £11,000 to £50,000. You are getting current internationals, World Cup winners and the World Cup-winning captain inside a five-figure budget, which is not the case anywhere else in rugby.

Frequently asked questions

Will a women's rugby speaker work for a mixed audience?

Yes. The material is leadership, pressure and team performance, which is not gendered. Booking exclusively for a women's network event underuses the group and is the most common mistake made with them.

Who is best for an International Women's Day event?

Maggie Alphonsi, Catherine Spencer and Abbie Ward all have specific material beyond playing, on being first, on women's leadership and on maternity. That gives an IWD session more substance than a general career talk.

Can they host or take part in a panel?

Maggie Alphonsi is a working broadcaster, so she is the most natural on a panel or in an interview format. Ask about the others individually, since broadcast experience varies more than speaking experience does.

How far ahead should we book?

Three to six months for most of this group, longer around the Six Nations and World Cup windows when current players are unavailable. Retired players and coaches have more flexibility than serving internationals.

For the men's side of the roster, see our guide to rugby legends for after-dinner entertainment, or after-dinner sports speakers for club dinners.

Tell us the audience and the occasion and we'll come back with a shortlist. Tell us about your event.