Moloney looking forward to tackling champions England
By Daire Walsh
Following a successful campaign to date, Ireland hooker Cliodhna Moloney is relishing the prospect of facing defending Women’s Six Nations champions England at Castle Park, Doncaster, this Sunday (kick-off 12.45pm).
Adam Griggs’ charges find themselves just behind their cross-channel rivals on score difference, having defeated Scotland and Wales in the opening two rounds of the tournament. Moloney crossed over for tries in both of these games and is in a rich vein of form for what will prove to be a monumental task.
“We always love playing England regardless of where we are at as a team,” said Moloney.
“Ireland against England is always a cracker and we always bring everything we can for them. It will be tough away from home, but we’re building nicely towards it.
“The pressure will only come from ourselves, we won’t be worried about anyone else.
“We’ll go back to the drawing board, look at where we can exploit them but focus a lot on ourselves. We’re getting better at certain things and might drop off on other things, but it’s about fixing them week on week.
Having missed out on the 2019 Championship with a long-term shoulder injury, Moloney has enjoyed a whirlwind reintroduction to the Irish national system.
While she showcased the instincts of an outside back to score in the two games to date, Moloney is quick to highlight the role the whole team plays in getting her over the line.
“It’s not about who gets the scores on the board. It’s just as long as Ireland are scoring. It’s the system that we’re playing and I’m fortunate enough to end up outside the backs who can play ball. If I can’t run it in from there, I’m not really doing my job very well,” said Moloney, who plays her club rugby in England with Wasps.
“It’s about our phase play and our process. Again, whoever gets on the end of that. I could easily have given the ball outside me again [in the Wales game].
“There was backs out there, but I’d probably need to be a bit quicker thinking to get the ball out wide.
“If I didn’t get over the line I’d have been disappointed. It’s nice, but it’s nicer for the team,” she added.