Moloney-MacDonald determined to make most of unexpected World Cup

After a combined two years on the treatment table due to two separate neck injuries, a hamstring strain was never going to faze Claudia Moloney-MacDonald.

A year ago, the winger questioned whether she even wanted to play again as she began the tentative steps back towards training, while this summer’s landmark World Cup seemed a pipe dream.

Today, the winger will make her 2025 World Cup bow after recovering from the minor hamstring problem to start England’s second pool game against Samoa in Northampton.

It is a far cry from this time last year, when she returned to training six months after being left motionless on the pitch after making a tackle in a club game for Exeter Chiefs.

In a scary episode, Moloney-MacDonald was unable to move her arms or legs and admits the psychological wounds took a lot longer to heal than her physical scars.

“At first, I didn’t even want to leave my house. I was at home for a couple of weeks,” she said.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Red Roses (@redrosesrugby)

“I was told not to go in a car as that was a dangerous position for my body to be in.

“By the time I got around to joining in with some games in training it was probably August after the incident in February.

“By that point, you are excited to be involved but I still didn’t want to play. I would still watch rugby but for the first time I did not want anything to do with being on the pitch.

“It probably took me until as late as the beginning of November to have that desire to be back out on the pitch.

“Then it was mid-December when I got back out on the pitch. By the tail end I was ready. I felt really confident and I felt good, but it took a fair bit of time.”

Cruelly, it was Moloney-MacDonald’s second significant neck injury in three years. In 2021, she suffered an acute prolapsed disc and another bulging disc in her neck that doctors feared would end her career.

However, she is nothing if not a fighter and she returned to international duty in this year’s Six Nations, scoring four tries in three games, including one in the decider with France.

So all things considered, the hamstring injury that kept her out of the two warm-up matches and England’s opener against USA was never a concern.

“We had the Six Nations so it feels like I have been back for a while,” she said.

“A minor hamstring was a breeze. It takes a lot of focus, we have a brilliant medical team and they were very straight with me from the beginning.

“I knew when I had to be back and I put my head down and worked towards it, we have a very supportive player group and it has been pretty manageable.”

Moloney-MacDonald and the Red Roses have a chance to fill their boots on Saturday against the second-lowest ranked team in the tournament.

Samoa were beaten 73-0 by Australia last week and the gap between the two nations is just as wide off the pitch as on it, with half of the Pacific Islanders’ squad raising funds to cover the costs of their mortgages and household bills while here.

"Firstly, we're not going to get bored around being consistent and as much as we got the right result last week, we have standards to uphold,” said England head coach John Mitchell.

“So the girls get challenged occasionally on standards because we've got to keep growing.

“Ultimately, I think the biggest challenge for the girls on the weekend will be we're going to get space, we're going to find it, we're going to attack it, but we're going to have to be patient with our execution in that space because we might get a little bit more space than normal.

“Sometimes you can fall into the trap of fool's gold, and try and get too loose too early, so that'll be the biggest challenge with this combination."

With more than 400,000 tickets already sold, and prices starting at just £5 for children and £10 for adults, fans are encouraged to secure their tickets now via tickets.rugbyworldcup.com