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Saying the team comes first is one thing. Actually meaning it, and backing up that simple statement with action, is quite another. When the England wing Claudia Moloney-MacDonald says the team was more important than personal ambition during the Women’s Rugby World Cup, you can’t escape the feeling she really means it.
There is no better illustration of England’s squad depth than the fact Moloney-MacDonald was not a regular starter in August and September. She returned from a hamstring injury to face Samoa in the pool stage, scoring in England’s 92-3 win, but did not make John Mitchell’s squad again as the hosts plotted a path to victory.
“We’re all incredibly competitive. We all want to have the shirt,” Moloney-MacDonald says. “I see fulfilling my role as a player to be on the pitch, but that just wasn’t to be.
“Mitch communicated that to me and told me what my role was. There were nine of us, more or less, that consistently supported the team and prepared them. I’d be lying if I said I was anything other than disappointed, naturally, but it’s something you just have to embrace.”
During England’s three-year winning streak before the World Cup, insiders often insisted the players were being constantly tested in training. Moloney-MacDonald, who recovered from a second serious neck injury in 2024 to reach a second World Cup, spells out the truth of that claim.
“We pulled together really strongly as a group [during the tournament] and consistently drove standards in training,” she says. “We did everything we could to make sure we came out with that gold medal.
“There were tough moments [personally] during all that. But I think collectively all 32 of us, and particularly the nine that didn’t play as much, can hang our hats up and say we did as much as we could to make sure the team could perform.”
Is there one word she would choose to encapsulate World Cup glory? “Monumental. Because it was so much bigger than us,” Moloney-MacDonald says. “I think it said so much about what’s possible when the PWR [Premiership Women’s Rugby] puts effort into building these incredible players, and the whole world has benefited from the PWR and its development. Also how the unions have supported their players, how grassroots rugby has grown.
“I think us winning the World Cup was that pinnacle moment of: ‘It was all worth it.’ It’s just proven when you put the work in, when you put the effort in, when you put the money in, when you believe and you trust the process, then the result comes.”
Not that it came easy. Moloney-MacDonald describes the punishing regime that prepared the squad for challenges to come.
“I don’t think we’ve ever worked so hard,” she says. “We pushed ourselves to the absolute limit and that’s how you pull people together. You’ve got to break them down first and that’s certainly what happened to us. We really got broken. As we rebuilt we were stronger and more joined up and a better team for it. So it was definitely a very strong unit.”
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Moloney-MacDonald kicks off the PWR campaign with Exeter Chiefs Women on Saturday at Ealing Trailfinders, and says the Devon side are aiming to raise the bar.
“It’s really exciting. Oli Bishop [the new Chiefs backs and attack coach] has brought brand-new energy, new ideas, everything we needed to grow our game, and hopefully compete at that top four, top two level we’ve been floating around for the last couple of years. We’ve been incredibly competitive, but we want to go one more and be a real threat.”
The 29-year-old began her career at Sutton & Epsom RFC a decade ago, and was fast-tracked to an England debut in 2018. As the women’s game develops, are defences improving every season?
“Yeah, 100%,” Moloney-MacDonald says. “There’s less and less space. Defences are getting better but the attack is also getting better.
“Before you might have your backs organising [attacking plays], your forwards were more head down and carry. Now that’s not really the case. You’ve got ex-centres playing as props who are almost as quick as wingers.
“There’s speed, strength, power and game knowledge across the entire team. It’s posing new threats each season. You’ve got to be creative and come up with new ways to break down the opposition, which is the excitement of rugby, isn’t it? It’s complicated.”
The various demands on modern players are complicated too. As a wing who also plays scrum-half, how does she balance the different elements of training?
“It’s about working out the parts of your game that make you different,” Moloney-MacDonald says. “You want to highlight those and also work on your weaknesses.
“Every player plays the game slightly differently. That’s the beauty of rugby. So it’s not trying to be a carbon copy of the next person, which historically maybe we’ve tried to do. Now it’s about being you.”
Moloney-MacDonald selflessly devoted her own unique talent to winning the World Cup for England: Red Roses fans, not to mention her teammates, are grateful.
