ENGLAND Rugby World Cup winner Maggie Alphonsi was the guest speaker at Ludlow Rugby Club's annual dinner and awards ceremony.

Capped 70 times for England, Alphonsi told the story of how a PE teacher at her school in London inspired her to become a top class rugby player. Born with a club foot she could have qualified as a Paralympic athlete but instead chose to take on able-bodied players and became one of the best back row forwards in the world.

After retiring two years ago she joined ITV as a pundit for the Rugby World Cup and Six Nations series and has quickly made a name for herself for her ability to read the game and interpret it for viewers.

She presented Will Sparrow with his award as Ludlow RFC’s Player of the Year after he scored an amazing 498 points to help the team finish third in the league.

There were two awards for Stefan Andow who was named both Young Player of the Year and Player's Player.

The Development XV Player of the Year was Rhys Perkins with the other awards going to Clubman of the Year Peter Bayliss while Peter England picked up the President's Award. James Bridge was also given an award for his outstanding contribution to mini and junior rugby at the club.