Ireland player Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald said enjoying her rollercoaster rugby journey “made me play better”.
The 32-year-old earned her 50th cap for Ireland in their opening match of the 2026 Women’s Six Nations against England in front of a record crowd at Twickenham.
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He made his debut for Ireland in 2015, but after cooling off in the international wilderness between 2022 and 2024, he had to wait longer than most to reach the milestone.
Despite this exit from the team, Moloney-MacDonald feels “privileged to go through it all” during the difficult and divisive times of the last decade with the women’s team and believes they are in a really strong place now.
“It makes me really excited about this and I understand how lucky we are, because I’m probably the only one in the current team that has been through all the different cycles in the last 10-11 years of Irish rugby and women’s rugby in general,” he told the Ireland Rugby Social podcast.
“Yes I compete and I compete hard, but I understand how lucky I am and it should be fun. I’m here to enjoy rugby, that made me play better.
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“There’s nothing to worry about in terms of observing culture. ‘Tricky’ [Edel McMahon] and Sam [Monaghan, former Ireland co-captains] you did a great job those first few years in my absence. They are embedded in a foundation that no longer needs to be talked about. The team is a group of smart people.”
The Aviva game will be ‘unbelievable’
Moloney-MacDonald played against his wife and England international Claudia for the first time in the Women’s Six Nations. [Getty Images]
In a wide-ranging interview with Gavin Andrews and his best friend Lindsay Peat, Moloney-MacDonald discusses how he got into rugby, moving to England to improve after the 2017 World Cup disappointment and his relationship with Exeter team-mate and England international Claudia Moloney-MacDonald, whom he married last year.
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He also spoke about how he is enjoying Ireland’s final game of the year against Scotland which will be held at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday.
More than 30,000 tickets were sold for the first Irish women’s independent match in the Dublin area.
For Moloney-MacDonald it marks another milestone as he makes his Aviva debut, eight years on from training in the gym under the stadium while at the Railway Union.
He followed the words of many of his teammates during the preparations for the game in the hope that they will not end up playing in the Aviva.
“It’s strange that I’ve never been to the Aviva which is a symbol of my rugby career because I’ve moved away, but I’m very happy,” he added.
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“When I played my rugby I was on the Railway. Sandymount is around the corner and that’s where I lived for four years in Dublin and we used to exercise under the pitch at 5:30 in the morning, three times a week before work. It was a pit!
“It is very important for us to put everything together as a team and finish on top. We want to put together the best parts of all our games.
“Hopefully there’s no going back from it. That’s what matters, if we do, there’s a big crowd, we get a win, at the Aviva, a stand-alone fixture, a regular set. Next year you’re looking at something else.”
