'It’s a little tainted': Moloney-MacDonald reflects on World Cup experience

To say Claudia Moloney-MacDonald has been through her fair share of setbacks would be an understatement.

The England winger has had two serious neck injuries two years apart which not only threatened to derail her promising international career but force her to give up the game entirely.

When she sustained the second neck injury back in February 2024 it caused significant mental fear including not wanting to leave the house and not being able to travel in a car, taking her a while to trust her body again. Rugby, understandably, was the last thing on her mind.

But 2025 and a home World Cup year rounded the corner and luckily Moloney-MacDonald was able to fight her way back into the 2025 England Six Nations squad with renewed impetus on making the World Cup. She started and scored a try against France in the Grand Slam-deciding match at Allianz Stadium- a real statement of intent.

However, the injury curse continued and the 30-year-old cruelly sustained a hamstring injury ahead of the tournament ruling her out of the warm-up matches and England’s opening game against the USA.

Fellow Red Rose winger Jess Breach came into form at just the right time and along with the undroppable Abby Dow, Moloney-MacDonald had a task on her hands to reclaim her starting spot.

Throughout the World Cup winning campaign, the winger only played in England’s pool stage match against minnows Samoa. But in testament to her resilience and good nature, she states how the team were more important than personal ambition during that ground breaking tournament.

“The World Cup is the pinnacle of anyone’s career, let alone a home World Cup and we set out as a squad to go and win. So, from that sense, it was incredible and we achieved everything that we wanted to,” said the speedster with 36 Test caps to her name.

“I do value the role that I played- there was probably nine of us in a similar role, and our specific role for that moment wasn’t necessarily to be the ones on the pitch- it doesn’t mean you don’t play a role in it.

“But obviously it is hard as a player because the role that you want to play is playing on the pitch. So naturally there’s a level of disappointment in there, and I’m incredibly proud of the team and what we achieved as a collective, but purely from a selfish point of view, it’s a little tainted, I’d say.

“It’s a hard one to process because obviously there are two sides to it and trying to put it in perspective is incredibly important and everything I had to get through to get into the World Cup squad and just be there. So from one sense, I guess there is an element of achievement there, but I’d be lying if I said I achieved everything I personally wanted to at that World Cup.”

For Moloney-MacDonald the return to club duties when the PWR kicked off in October was a welcome change of scene from the close England bubble.

“The World Cup is an incredibly intense period for quite a long time, regardless of game time or not. I think we were in camp and in and around everything for about four months and within that time I probably spent about a week at home.

“I was actually very excited to get home, get back into a normal routine and get back into club rugby. But that’s probably a reflection of, whilst the World Cup was absolutely incredible I didn’t get as much game time as I would have hoped. So I was just looking forward to being out on a pitch and playing some rugby.”

At the halfway stage of the league, Moloney-MacDonald’s club Exeter Chiefs sit in fourth place in the table having played eight, won four and drawn two, which Moloney-MacDonald believes is a decent return for a club with a new coaching set-up and many different playing styles.

“We were quite fortunate that we had a big contingent of us that were here the previous season. So from a playing point of view, there has been a good overlap with the inspiration of a few new faces coming in, which has been amazing.

“There is a real hot pot of different internationals (at the club), and that’s hard because every international team plays differently and have different ideas around how the game should be played. So naturally that takes a little bit of time to settle in and find its flow, which I think you can see from our results.”

One of the highlights of last year, which included marrying club team mate and Ireland hooker Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald, was Claudia’s involvement in the Chiefs Women’s calendar (with a twist).

 

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“That (experience) was just amazing. The men’s team have done one each year for several years now, and one day me and Linde (Linde van der Velden) sat down with our marketing department and were like, ‘look, I think we should actually do a women’s naked calendar. I think it will be brilliant’ and they got on board and said if we can get this many people signed up, then we’ll do it. I think the following day we’d got 18 or something.

“Linde and I just sort of sat down and designed how we thought it could look and how we could bring out strength and confidence but also make it really classy. So that’s what we were aiming for.

“We had this incredible photographer, Ellie, who took all the photos and she just was brilliant at getting everything at the right angle and making sure everything was covered. We had music playing and the girls were just amazing. It was funny because people would be conscious of themselves, but then actually by the time they were in the pose and trying things out, they found it a brilliant experience.

“There’s so many different ways to look and be strong and healthy and use your body in a really productive way. I think that’s what we’re trying to celebrate as well is that a body’s not just there to be looked at. You can be tall, you can be short, you can weight 100 kilos or you can weigh 60 kilos.

“I don’t think anyone anticipated it to sell as quickly as it did. We were super chuffed with that. So roll on next year!”

As the rugby world gears up for the men’s Six Nations, the women’s championship begins in April. With just over two months to go, Moloney-MacDonald, having just entered a new decade of her life, has an admirable and laidback approach to the upcoming year.

“I’m just looking to enjoy it, to be honest. The last three years were hyper focused on the next World Cup and all of that came off the back of the previous one out in New Zealand and not quite achieving what we wanted to as a playing group.

“So a lot of us were on that same path of wanting to get it right. So those three years were incredibly intense and the next four years, I’m sure are going to be the same, but I guess for now, I’m just trying to get on the pitch, enjoy being on the pitch and see what my body’s capable of doing when I’m on it.

“Off the pitch, in May I got married to my wife, and then we went and spent the next four or five months not seeing each other at all. So it’s nice just to be able to spend a bit of time together and have some new experiences.”

With the Six Nations and the new WXV Global Series on the horizon, as well as the desire to keep up England’s world-record winning run, there is plenty to look forward to in a Red Roses shirt.

But as another chapter begins, the international playing chapter for Abby Dow came to a close with her retirement. Having played with Dow since turning professional and spending four years on the wings at Wasps together, Moloney-MacDonald takes a moment to praise the inspirational winger and acknowledges her retirement could open doors to more playing opportunities.

“I was actually laughing about it the other day because we had such a sibling relationship, we could really get on each other’s nerves. But we also loved playing with each other. If you’ve ever seen siblings fight, that was like me and her. You know, one of us would get it wrong in a drill and we’d be dump tackling each other on the sideline! We always seemed to take training up a notch whenever we were opposite each other. I think she’ll be hugely missed.

“She was one of the ones to set the standard, set the intensity, which I always loved. So competitive, so hard-working and so logical about the way she approaches the game.

“She doesn’t do things impulsively. There’s always understanding and reasoning behind it. So I imagine (to retire) was a decision that she’d been making over a while and it was certainly planned and it’ll be because that’s what she wants to do and what she thinks best for her life. So I’m excited to see what she gets up to next.

“That shirt has largely been hers, when she’s been fit, probably for the last five or six years, maybe longer. So certainly, that obviously opens up an opportunity for more people to put their hand up. You’ve got some incredible wingers coming through, Mia Venner, who obviously just missed out on World Cup selection. And Millie David, absolutely rapid. Then Sophie Hopkins, there’s just loads of wingers.

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“To be honest, with England, I think the opportunity is always there, you just have to be the best person for your shirt. I’m trying to be a little bit realistic about it.

“Obviously, I want to be the best wing, as I’m incredibly competitive, but I think every person that plays rugby is incredibly competitive. So I just want to have fun and enjoy it and work hard. For me, it’s about staying on the pitch.”