Current Ireland set-up ‘worlds apart’ from Moloney’s previous experience
Cliodhna Moloney has said the current Ireland women’s rugby set-up under Scott Bemand is ‘worlds apart’ from what she had experienced in the past.
Having picked up her 31st Irish cap in a test victory against Japan on November 20, 2021, the Galway woman had to wait more than two years for her 32nd appearance as an international 15s player. While the Japanese game took place 11 days after she compared remarks made by the IRFU’s then Director of Women’s Rugby Anthony Eddy to “slurry spreading” in a social media post, new head coach Greg McWilliams insisted her exclusion from the squad for the 2022 Six Nations was purely a ‘rugby decision’.
IRFU CEO Kevin Potts reiterated in May 2023 that Moloney’s continued absence from the international stage wasn’t due to her past comments and despite being left out of his original squad, current head coach Scott Bemand subsequently handed her a recall midway through this year’s Six Nations.
She left a sizable impression during her three appearances off the bench in the latter stages of the Championship and the Exeter Chiefs hooker is also part of Ireland’s squad for a forthcoming test with Australia at Kingspan Stadium, Belfast on September 14 – as well as subsequent WXV 1 clashes with New Zealand, Canada and USA in Vancouver.
“Things have changed quite a lot, I think that kind of reflects the landscape of women’s rugby worldwide. Things are moving at a very fast pace externally and are developing quickly. That’s kind of what’s happened in here too,” Moloney explained.
“Since Scott’s come in, the environment in here has changed a lot and it’s definitely worlds apart from when I was last in here. In a good way. I’m really enjoying it and enjoying seeing all the young kids I don’t know much about really.
“It was a weird time, but we’re all very happy to leave that in the past now and move forward. It’s evident, inside and out, that things are very different here. That’s the most important thing and growing rugby in the right way is the next most important thing. They guys are doing that with the plans they’ve put together over the next five, six years.”
Joining Moloney on Monday at a press conference held in the IRFU’s High Performance Centre was Bemand. Since becoming the head coach of the Ireland women’s 15s team a little over a year ago, he has guided them to an inaugural WXV 3 title and a third-place finish in the 2024 Six Nations Championship.
Their overall standing in the latter helped them to not only qualify for this autumn’s WXV 1, but also next year’s Rugby World Cup in England.
The upcoming international window affords him an opportunity to test the resources at his disposal and with some experienced faces on board to balance out a plethora of uncapped players, Bemand is happy with his selection for the next four games.
“It’s a brilliant blend. We’ve got some experience, some returning experience. Eimear Considine comes in. It’s a couple of years since she was last capped, but she has been going well for Munster and has been showing bits in training we’ve been able to see,” Bemand said.
“You have some of the youngsters coming through. As a centralised programme, we’ve had Hannah Clarke and Robyn O’Connor in for a bit to see how they go, and their shape looked great. Keeping some of the more experienced girls on their toes.
“It creates an opportunity now for us to have a couple of weeks where we can really get down and compete and earn a place to go on the plane for WXV 1.”