It looked at the start of this year like Claudia MacDonald’s career might be over. A freak neck injury in November brought a grim prognosis, the suggestion that continuing to play rugby would be unwise.
It was a cruel blow to a player coming right into her prime, set to lose her professional contract and give up her trade, forced to embark on a new career in the city having been so close to a World Cup at which she appeared ideally placed to play a key role.
But then, just after this year’s Six Nations, unexpected hope. Positive scan results, the neck healed sufficiently to brighten the gloomy forecast. Consultation with medical experts suggested that there would be no more risk to MacDonald taking the field than any other player.
At the start of July, MacDonald’s name was among the initial 37 players assembled for the summer of preparation for the World Cup. Watching her return to action in Exeter on Saturday suggested that a player granted an unexpected second opportunity is ready to take it.
“For a while, I didn’t think I’d be playing again,” she explained after a two-try star turn on her return to rugby against the USA at Sandy Park. “That was up until the end of the Six Nations.
“[But] I had a call from the England doctor and the results from a scan that I had had were really positive. So that was when I started to think that rugby was back on the cards, potentially. I think that was around May time.
“Then we had a few more sit downs to try to work out what that looked like, if that meant a return to rugby now, what the journey from then to here now looked like, if England wanted me back, which thankfully they did.”
MacDonald admitted afterwards that it had been an emotional 24 hours before her return to the field at her new home ground after a summer move to Exeter.
“It probably started last night. We had our shirt presentation last night and that was probably more emotional than I thought it would be. That got me a little bit. Lining up for the national anthem, that kind of hit home [and] sealed the deal that this is happening. It was pretty cool.
“It was obviously something that I wasn’t necessarily planning for if you rewind the clock a little bit so to be in the position now to walk out on the pitch and get a game under my belt again was just amazing.”
Not only is MacDonald back in camp, but her performance at her new Exeter ground perhaps edged her closer to a spot in the touring party of 32 to be named on 20 September. English wings rarely struggle for scoring opportunity but MacDonald took her second try particularly brilliantly. A near faultless afternoon of defensive work would also have pleased the England coaching staff, particularly after ten months out of action.
Enlarged squad sizes and better-spaced games means players who can fill multiple spots may no longer be a Women’s World Cup necessity but Simon Middleton values versatility highly.
Abby Dow is on track for a return for the Red Roses’ pool stage opener against Fiji, but will be short of match fitness after recovering from the serious leg injury. If there are concerns about Dow’s readiness, MacDonald’s ability to cover wing may well count in her favour in a four-way fight for a likely three scrum-half places available on the plane to New Zealand.
The England head coach confirmed afterwards that the half-time switch at nine was planned, with Mo Hunt and Leanne Infante granted a half each to stake their case. The suggestion is that MacDonald and Lucy Packer may in turn receive opportunities against Wales in Bristol, with the Harlequin, said to be particularly well-regarded by backs coach Scott Bemand, perhaps starting.
The appearance in Exeter was MacDonald’s fourth start for England at the position at which she began her career, and the 26-year-old is hopeful her positional flexibility can remain an asset.
“It was always going to be part of the puzzle going forward,” MacDonald explained after becoming the first Exeter player capped by England Women. “The idea was that I would never negate anything I had on the wing by learning scrum-half. If anything, I was going to add to my skillset in terms of passing and game awareness.
“Obviously it is a challenge, trying to keep a foot in both boots almost as a wing and as a scrum-half. I was given an opportunity today on the wing and you have just got to give it everything you can when you get those opportunities.”
