Claudia MacDonald: 'For a while I didn't trust my body'

Just over a year on from sustaining a second potentially career-ending neck injury, Exeter’s Claudia MacDonald will represent England for the first time in 16 months in their opening Women’s Six Nations game against Italy.

The 29-year-old suffered the traumatic injury against Harlequins in the PWR in February 2024, which left her ‘terrified’ of rugby, unable to leave her house, and scared of having her back off a wall for fear of being knocked, among other significant hurdles she had to overcome in her 10 months sidelined.

“For quite a while I didn’t trust my body at all. I would wake up in the morning and check that I could move my feet,” she told RugbyPass in a press conference.

‘This Energy Never Stops’ – Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025

‘This Energy Never Stops’ – Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025

“There was no trust in how I thought I was going to be the following day. Then time passes on and you realise that you get pushed and you’re fine, and you fall over and you’re fine. You realise your body is so much tougher and so much more resilient than perhaps you give it credit for.

“I think our bodies are amazing. The scans always helped, when you can physically see proof that things are so much better than they were, that gave me a lot of confidence in what I was capable of.”

The versatile back, who made her England debut in 2018, also spoke to media about the importance of being back playing rugby, not least involved in international camps.

“It was a long journey towards getting back on the pitch and it all started with a bit of fitness and a bit of running around, and being back at club, and remembering how much I love being with the girls, being on the pitch, and challenging myself physically,” MacDonald, who will start on the left wing for England on Sunday, stressed.

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“If we rewind the clock, I probably wouldn’t have thought I’d be playing ever again so it’s been amazing. I came out of that session probably a bit frustrated and Mo [Natasha Hunt] reminded me there that I’ve worked hard to be here and just to enjoy it. That’s really important at the moment, keeping a smile on my face and enjoying it.”

MacDonald will line up against Italy in an England team that features two first starts and two potential debuts – as well as a further four players with ten or fewer caps.

The team is also underpinned by seven players who played in last weekend’s Premiership Women’s Rugby final who have been in and out of England camps in the build-up due to their club commitments.

As a result, pre-tournament camps featured a variety of different names, including u20s stars such as Bristol Bears flyers Reneeqa Bonner and Millie David, Loughborough’s Carmela Morrall, Lia Green, Haineala Lutui, and Amelia Williams, and Harlequins’ Tyla Shirley.

“The PWR final gave a nice opportunity for some u20s girls to come into camp. They got some really cool exposure, it was also exciting to have them in and see where they’re at in their journeys. It was a new challenge for us and them as well because they presented something slightly different to normal,” MacDonald said.

“One of England’s biggest strengths is our depth in players. Coming back into the squad now, I just look around and I think there’s so much talent here, so many players that are just unbelievable in every position.

“I think we’re all on the same page that it’s probably one of our biggest strengths as a squad, is that you could play a full XV, you could put a second XV out and those two are going to have a pretty feisty battle against each other. It’s more about making sure that we’re bringing everyone along on the journey.”

England’s first opposition in the 2025 Women’s Six Nations, Italy, have provided little challenge in years gone by for the Red Roses – who are currently on a 20-match winning streak.

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Despite the scorelines in their recent meetings (48-0 in 2024, 68-5 in 2023), MacDonald insists Fabio Roselli’s side still pose threats to the world’s number-one ranked side.

“I think of Italy as a bit of a wildfire. If you don’t nullify their threats immediately, and you allow them to take control, allow them to play on top, they can be incredibly dangerous,” she said.

“They’re still a really strong side, they’ve got some really good ball carriers, they’ve got some really skilful players. I guess for us the focus is about taking away that time and space that they have. If you allow them time, if you allow them to get momentum, they’re incredibly dangerous.”

With a home Rugby World Cup on the horizon, suggestions have been made in the media that losing a game at this point could prove hugely beneficial to the Red Roses, whose last loss in 51 matches was against New Zealand in the 2021 Rugby World Cup final.

MacDonald, who was a replacement in the heartbreaking final for England, suggested that match losses are part of a host of wider challenges and as such, being on the wrong end of a scoreline is not necessarily essential to them making important learnings in preparation for the World Cup.

“It’s all about challenges. Losing is a potential challenge, but there are also so many other challenges that we can be faced with and that we are continuously faced with. Whether that’s being under pressure under your sticks, conceding the first try, going a player down, going two players down, cards, injuries, etc,” she explained.

“There are so many ways that we can be challenged with what happens on the pitch that I don’t think it necessarily means we have to lose a game. It’s about trying to learn from what happens on the pitch and how we respond, and how we can tweak that response to be even better the following time.

“We’re also incredibly lucky, again we talk about that depth in the squad, how we’re able to train week in, week out, is incredibly competitive. Someone has to lose training every week, it’s not that we’re not losing, we’re certainly losing to each other each week in training. I don’t think there’s a lack of opportunities to learn and develop without necessarily losing a game.”

England will go in search of their seventh consecutive Women’s Six Nations title this spring, and will further host Scotland in Leicester and France in Twickenham, as well as facing Wales at the Principality Stadium and Ireland at Cork’s Virgin Media Park.