Claudia Frances MacDonald (born 4 January 1996) is an English rugby union scrum-half and winger who plays for the England national team and club rugby for

Exeter Chiefs Women Exeter Chiefs Women are a professional women's rugby union team based in Exeter, Devon, England. They were founded in 2019 to take part in the Premier 15s, the top level of English women's rugby. They are based at Sandy Park and are affiliated t ...

International career

MacDonald made her debut for the

England national team Team England usually refers to the name under which athletes representing Commonwealth Games England compete. England team or Team England may refer to: *Commonwealth Games England *England national football team *England cricket team *England nat ...

coming off the bench against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in the 2018 Quilter Internationals. She played against Wales in the

2019 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2019 Women's Six Nations Championship was the 18th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition featuring six European rugby union national teams. Matches were held in February and March 2019, on the ...

, which England won with a

grand slam Grand Slam or Grand slam may refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category terminology originating in contract bridge and other whist card games Athletics * Grand Slam Track, professional track and field league Auto racing * ...

. In January 2019, MacDonald was awarded a professional contract with the national team. Later that year, she scored a try in England's Super Series fixture versus the USA. She went on to play 80 minutes in England's victory over Italy in November 2019. MacDonald was a member of the 2020 Women's Six Nations England squad. She was named in the England squad for the delayed

2021 Rugby World Cup The 2021 Rugby World Cup was the ninth staging of the Rugby World Cup (women), women's Rugby World Cup, as organised by World Rugby. It was held from 8 October to 12 November 2022 in Auckland and Whangārei, New Zealand. It was originally sche ...

held in New Zealand in October and November 2022. On 17 March 2025, she was called into the

Red Roses Red Roses (, 'red moor') is a village in Carmarthenshire, Wales. Situated in south-west Carmarthenshire, the village forms part of the Eglwyscummin community, and with Ciffig and Marros, forms part of the Laugharne Township electoral ward. T ...

side for the

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament conte ...

Club career

MacDonald played for Sutton & Epsom RFC before joining the Tyrrells Premier 15s side

Darlington Mowden Park Sharks Darlington Mowden Park Sharks Ladies Rugby Football Club (commonly shortened to DMP Sharks, also known briefly as DMP Durham Sharks for partnership purposes) is a women's rugby union club in Darlington, County Durham, England founded in 1996. Thei ...

in September 2017. In 2018, she moved to

Wasps Ladies Wasps Women are a women's rugby union based in Acton, London, England. They were founded in 1984 and play in the Premier 15s. They are the women's team of Wasps FC, who are affiliated to Premiership Rugby team Wasps. They play their home matches ...

. In 2022, she started playing for

Early life, education and personal life

MacDonald was born in Epsom, Surrey, but her family moved to Dubai in 2008. They spent four years in the Gulf, where her brother Alex represented the Arabian Gulf side. Her second brother, Seb, also played rugby at the Swiegi Overseas Rugby Club in Malta. Previously a netballer, MacDonald did not start playing rugby until she was 19, but quickly went on to captain her university team at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

, where she was studying for a degree in economics. MacDonald was educated privately at

St John's School, Leatherhead St John's School in Leatherhead, Surrey is a fully co-educational private school for pupils aged 11 to 18. The school offers day, weekly and flexible boarding for approximately 800 pupils. St John's was founded in 1851 to educate the sons of ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. She runs a blog, 'Let's Talk 1%', focusing on reducing environmental impact and climate emergency activism. She is also a PADI-qualified rescue scuba diver. In 2025 MacDonald married Irish international and Exeter teammate

Cliodhna Moloney Cliodhna Moloney (born 31 May 1993) is an Irish women's rugby union player from Kilconly, County Galway, Ireland. She currently plays for Exeter Chiefs and the Ireland women's national rugby union team as a hooker. Career Prior to playing ru ...

References

External links

RFU Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Claudia 1996 births Living people Alumni of Josephine Butler College, Durham England women's international rugby union players English female rugby union players People educated at St John's School, Leatherhead Rugby union players from Epsom Rugby union scrum-halves Darlington Mowden Park Sharks players Exeter Chiefs Women players English expatriates in the United Arab Emirates British LGBTQ rugby union players 21st-century English sportswomen