Claudia and Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald: ‘It was surprisingly natural – I didn’t think about playing my wife’

Claudia and Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald played against one another in the Women's Six Nations (Action Images via Reuters)

There are not many circumstances in which striking one’s spouse could be chuckled away just an hour later, but the Moloney-MacDonalds are no ordinary couple. On Saturday afternoon, England’s Claudia and Ireland’s Cliodhna ran out at Twickenham on opposite sides of a Women’s Six Nations clash for the first time – and survived with their marriage, just about, intact. “I think it was a kick in the head,” Red Roses wing Claudia recalls of a mid-match ruck run-in with her other half. “She said she had no idea, but I said, ‘You kicked me then rolled over the top of me!’ It’s fine, we’re over it.”

Cross-country relationships are relatively common within the sport, particularly within Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR), the cosmopolitan English top-flight that draws from just about every top nation around the world. Claudia and Cliodhna met while at Wasps and have since been key figures down at Exeter Chiefs; international stalwarts for much of the last decade, the timing had never quite worked out for each to be fit, firing and in the frame when England faced Ireland at this stage of the year.

Until now, and what is believed to be the first meeting of a married couple on the Six Nations stage. “We’ve been part of squads that have played against each other for a few years now,” the English half of this rugby union continues. “It’s always an interesting week because you have to steer clear of any rugby chat whatsoever. It can lead to a few silences, when you’re trying not to give the game away, or just exit a conversation. It’s been fine. It’s quite natural.

Claudia Moloney-MacDonald claimed to have been kicked in the head by her wife (Action Images via Reuters)

“We’re both fiercely competitive, we both love our teams we play for and we’re both really committed. It weirdly felt quite natural to play against each other because we value the shirt so much.”

There is not quite a finishing of one another’s sentences but Cliodhna picks up thereafter. “The strange part for me was probably when I came off. When I was in the game, I was so focused on it. When I came off, it was an unusual situation to watch.”

Ticketing issues at the Allianz Stadium divided the family, with the Moloneys and MacDonalds sat separately as they watched England beat Ireland in front of a record crowd. A shared Spotify account caused a few issues – “I kept on getting intermittent Irish songs playing through my ears and I had to turn it off” – while a few pre-match WhatsApps made clear where loyalties lied. “My grandma messaged saying, ‘If Cli does hit you hard you can tell her you’ll have me chasing after her,” Claudia jokes.

Claudia Moloney-MacDonald was part of England's win at Twickenham (Getty Images)

There was every reason for this to be an emotional day. These two share not just a household but stories of international careers in doubt; for each, there was reason to believe this sort of encounter would never come. For Claudia, two separate neck injuries put her rugby career in doubt and left her virtually housebound before making a remarkable return to the Six Nations last year; for Cliodhna, two years were spent in exile after being dropped by a previous Irish regime seemingly for critical comments made on social media. On Saturday, Claudia could peer out of the tunnel as her wife belatedly reached an international half-century.

“It’s great to be back fit and healthy on the pitch and experiencing an atmosphere that we’ll never forget,” Cliodhna admits, clutching a bottle of champagne and that 50th cap. “For years, we both had different turns of watching each other, so it’s great to be both busy and in camp, hopefully getting selected every week.”

Claudia adds: “It was quite special watching Cli run out for her 50th. All the Irish girls were clapping and all the English girls were clapping her out as well. So it felt natural that I could applaud that situation as well. [I felt] a lot of pride. Then when the whistle goes, it was surprisingly natural, just to get your head stuck in. I didn’t really think too much about who’s on the opposition, let alone if it’s your wife.”

There was reason for optimism for each at the conclusion, but a fair bit of frustration, too. For a victorious England, an error-ridden display was compounded by two tournament-ending injuries to Morwenna Talling and Natasha Hunt, the second of which forced Claudia Moloney-MacDonald into an unexpected return to scrum half, where she began her Test career. For Ireland, meanwhile, a 12-12 scoreline after half time showed the sizeable strides made since the 88-10 thrashing two years ago – and what might have been.

“From our perspective, we let ourselves down in the first half,” Cliodhna reflected. “We lacked the ability to build momentum, but the second half was a lot more competitive and we got stuck in a lot more. Maybe we’ll get over the line sometime soon…”

England overcame Ireland to open the Women's Six Nations with a scratchy win (Getty Images)

“Hopefully not!” her wife quickly interjected to make sure it was she who had the final word.