When Love and Rugby Collide: Claudia MacDonald’s Story of Pride, Purpose and Playing Free

This June PWR is celebrating Pride Month by talking to some of the league's biggest stars and heari their stories. Phil Campbell speaks to Exeter Chiefs' Claudia MacDonald

Pinned at the top of Claudia MacDonald’s Instagram page is a picture of her with her wife Cliodhna Moloney from 2024 after the latter helped Ireland qualify for this year’s upcoming World Cup.

A brief scroll down reveals a post of the pair’s wedding on the Greek island of Rhodes in May, alongside various other pictures of MacDonald’s career as a Red Rose and Exeter Chief as well as posts of her life away from the game.

Uploading pictures of huge life events, special family moments and sporting achievements is the norm for many athletes and MacDonald is no different.

Being a member of the LGBTQ+ community doesn’t change anything for the 29-year-old when it comes to sharing her life online but the Chiefs star's attitude to other people’s opinions was different when she was younger. As a result, it almost drove her away from her now second biggest love in life: rugby.

“It seems normal [to post pictures of me and my now wife] because social media is just such a big part of our lives now,” she said.

“I also know how important it is because when I was younger, I didn't really know any other women that were as sporty, muscular or into the same things as I was.

“I got described as a tomboy, as if you're kind of a boy that is a girl, which I think is a pretty bizarre concept.

“Then an opportunity to play rugby came into my life, and I turned it down because I already thought what everyone was thinking, ‘I'm a boy’. I didn’t want to attach something else that's just going to reinforce that belief.”

There was one moment in particular that MacDonald recalls drove her decision to play sports such as netball, more in keeping with traditional gender narratives, in her school days.

“A boyfriend I had when I was 13 years old broke up with me because he was being called gay,” she continued.

“It was because apparently, I was pretty much a boy, and that he must be gay to be going out with me.

“Stuff like that is thrown around and as a result I didn't play rugby, which I would have loved to have played when I was younger.”

It wasn't until MacDonald was 19, when studying at Durham University, that she would rekindle her love of the sport. She hit the ground running in the Northeast, quickly finding herself thrust into the captaincy role.

Since then, MacDonald has been on a firmly upward trajectory.

Currently with the Chiefs alongside Moloney, who has 38 Ireland caps, MacDonald, who moved south from Wasps in 2022, also has 35 England caps to her name since making her debut in 2018.

But despite all she has achieved in the game, which includes triumphs in the Guinness Women’s Six Nations, MacDonald still considers whether her delay in taking up rugby has held back her development.

“Sometimes I wonder if I could have been a better rugby player had I started playing when I was 13 or 14 years old,” she explained.

“I don't want another little Claudia growing up not doing what she wants to do and not being who she wants to be because she doesn't know anyone that looks and feels like her and therefore feels quite alone and becomes someone else.

“I would rather skip all those steps for someone so they can just feel confident in who they are and do what they love.”

Women’s rugby, alongside attitudes both towards women in sport and towards the LGBTQ+ community have changed for the better since MacDonald was growing up.

The strength of Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) has been a huge success story both in terms of the talent on show and in showcasing a diverse and inclusive sport.

And the latter, as well as the increasing quality on the pitch, is something MacDonald feels is vital when encouraging players to be themselves.

“When I was younger, I wanted to fit in,” she said.

“Think of yourself like a puzzle piece, I'm fitting into your puzzle. Well, I don't want to fit into your puzzle. I've got my own puzzle over here, and if you want, you can fit into mine.

“You can have your puzzle over there; I can have my puzzle here. I don't think people need to fit in necessarily. I think they need to just be themselves. You'll find people like you and I don't think you need to be carbon copies of one another.

“Having an inclusive environment encourages diversity. And that's not just within LGBTQ+, I think that's within everything.

“I think humans are such a diverse race, and we want to celebrate being everything that we are.”

This summer’s World Cup could see both the happy couple that is MacDonald and Moloney face up against one another at international level for the first time.

It wouldn’t be until the knockout stages, as both England and Ireland have been drawn in different pools. But if that scenario were to occur, the England winger, who played in the 2021 World Cup final as England lost 34-31 to New Zealand, wouldn’t let anything get in the way of trying to get a win for her country.

“We've just never made it onto the pitch at the same time, because of injuries and selections and whatever else,” she added.

“I think we're in two heads. I think it would be incredible to experience that alongside one another, but as soon as you go onto the field, your opposition is your opposition.

“Playing against friends, you don't see them as friends. As soon as you cross that line, you see them as the opposition.

“We're all so competitive. You just want you to win. So, I think it would be a challenge in some way.

“At the moment, we've both got our heads down in our respective international camps and just trying to put our best foot forward.”