Enjoying rugby has made me play better - Moloney-MacDonald

Moloney-MacDonald made her Ireland debut in 2015, but had to wait 11 years to hit 50 caps for her country [Getty Images] Ireland hooker Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald said that enjoying her rollercoaster rugby journey "has made me play better". The 32-year-old won her 50th cap for Ireland in their opening 2026 Women's Six Nations game against England in front of a record crowd at Twickenham. She made her debut for Ireland in 2015, but after a spell in the international wilderness between 2022 and 2024, has had to wait longer than most to hit the milestone.

Despite that spell out of the squad, Moloney-MacDonald feels "privileged to experience it all" during various ups and downs in the past decade with the women's team and believes they are in a really strong place now. "It makes me enjoy this a lot more and understand how lucky we are, because I'm maybe one of the only ones in the current squad who has been through all the different cycles in the last 10-11 years of Irish rugby and women's rugby in general," she told the Ireland Rugby Social podcast. "Yes I compete and compete hard, but I understand how lucky I am and it should be fun.

I'm here to enjoy rugby now, that's made me play better. "There's not really anything we have to worry about form a culture point of view. 'Tricky' [Edel McMahon] and Sam [Monaghan, former Ireland co-captains] did great work in those initial few years when I wasn't here.

They embedded a groundwork that doesn't need to be mentioned anymore. The squad are a brilliant group of people. " Scotland can 'really turn it on when it matters' - King Ireland want clean sweep of home wins - Parsons Higgins hopes Aviva fixture is 'the first of many' Aviva game will be 'incredible' Moloney-MacDonald played against her wife and England international Claudia for the first time in this year's Women's Six Nations [Getty Images] In a wide-ranging interview with Gavin Andrews and close friend Lindsay Peat, Moloney-MacDonald talks through how she first got into rugby, moving to England to improve after the disappointment of the 2017 World Cup and her relationship with Exeter teammate and England international Claudia Moloney-MacDonald, who she married last year.