FORMER Supermarine rugby player Carole Thelwall-Jones has been appointed the RFU's first Constituent Body Volunteer Manager.

Thelwall-Jones played for both Blackheath and Supermarine Ladies before being forced to retire with a shoulder injury.

A member of the Berkshire Referees' Society, she remained involved in the game by taking up the whistle.

And she now has responsibility for liaising with the many volunteers who organise grass roots rugby in the

constituent bodies the counties, Armed Services and Oxford and Cambridge Universities around the country.

Supporting their various activities, she said: "I will be fighting the corner of the Constituent Bodies at HQ, listening to their needs, monitoring their strategic plans and trying to recruit and retain volunteers to work in the community game," she said.

"It is important that we have an effective partnership between the staff at Twickenham and volunteers because there are not sufficient staff to run the game at grass roots level"

She will be based in the community rugby & operations department at Twickenham.