Rugby World Cup winner Maggie Alphonsi is the patron for the 2015 Balfour Beatty London Youth Games.

Alphonsi, 30, was part of the England women’s rugby team which secured their World Cup triumph earlier this year.

She said: “The London Youth Games is where I first took up rugby and really got the bug for it.”

“For any young Londoner, the London Youth Games is an incredible event to be part of.”

Known as “Maggie the Machine,” her rugby career began at the 1999 London Youth Games through representing Enfield before proceeding to win numerous accolades.

She earned 74 international caps, culminating in seven consecutive Six Nations trophies and a World Cup winning medal.

Her other recognitions include being awarded the 2010 Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year, an MBE and being inducted into the London Youth Games Hall of Fame in 2012.

Now retired from international rugby, Alphonsi is also an ambassador for the 2015 men’s Rugby World Cup being hosted in England alongside Will Greenwood, Lawrence Dallaglio and Johnny Wilkinson.

Involving all 33 London boroughs, the 2014 games was the biggest in the event’s 37-year history with a record 126,897 participants.

The 2015 event kicks off on Saturday, November 15 with the cross country at Parliament Hill.