Claudia MacDonald on her Red Roses return
England winger Claudia MacDonald chats about her return to the England squad after injury, and how herself and her partner deal with both playing rugby at international level.
The 29-year-old returns to the Red Roses squad after a neck injury forced a 16-month hiatus, having last played internationally in WXV1 in 2023. The winger's comeback came in style, scoring a try against Italy in the opening round of the 2025 Guinness Women's Six Nations, and a brace against Scotland last weekend, which got her player of the match.
Speaking on her return, MacDonald said: "I loved being back out on the pitch, it was quite emotional. I didn't let myself think too much about playing again, and then suddenly it was game day and I was walking out. You can't replicate that feeling of walking out to a packed stadium.
"Now, with the crowds and fan base we have, the excitement around match day and the fact that those people are there to watch what we're doing on the pitch is amazing. It was great to experience the noise of the crowd as you come out the tunnel and to sing the anthem again. It took me back and surprised me with how much it hit me."
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Injury & relationships
"Previously when I had a neck injury [in 2022], I went out and got a job and was excited about the idea of working an office job in London and it being glamorous. But I had no desire to do that this time, I was really sad," said MacDonald.
"Part of me thought it was the end of my journey. It made me appreciate how lucky I am to do what I do, and to love it. This lifestyle is amazing and it's incredible that part of the job is to stay fit and challenge our body to do amazing things. I can't believe I get to train my body to be in the best shape it can be and challenge myself with it too."
MacDonald is engaged to Irish hooker and Exeter team mate Cliodhna Moloney, which she says, "is pretty cool to be with someone that understands what we do fully.
"We don't really know anything different as we met each other through rugby. I think it gives us insight into challenges we've both had along the way and understand each others journey because of it.
"For us, it's the first time in a while we've both been involved internationally, and there's a chance we could play each other which is the difficult part. We haven't played each other before so never had to cross that bridge, but hookers and wingers don't come across each other that much anyway."
Kelsey Clifford's Red Roses journey
The prop made her debut against Scotland in the 2023 Six Nations and has been a regular member of the England squad ever since. She's had a stellar campaign this Six Nations, scoring a try against Ireland and Scotland.
"It's been a long couple of seasons,' said Clifford. "But I think the main thing for me is working with the strength and conditioning coaches, both at club and England, to get my body composition down and muscle up. This season especially I've started to reap the rewards of that hard work, and I wouldn't have got that try against Ireland if I had the body composition I did before."
"I'm not naive to the fact that I have a lot more work to do. And like every player, we want to be the best in our position and that's what I aspire to. Hopefully the harder I work, the more starting shirts I'll get. It's only the beginning, I'm just 23-years-old, and hopefully got a long career ahead of me."
