Cliodhna Moloney
Birth nameClíodhna Moloney
Date of birth (1993-05-31) 31 May 1993
Place of birthKilconly, Republic of Ireland
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)[1]
Weight80 kg (176 lb)
Occupation(s)Banker
Rugby union career
Position(s) Hooker
Current team Wasps Ladies F.C
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2014–2018 Railway Union RFC[2] ()
Provincial / State sides
Years Team Apps (Points)
2014– Leinster[2] ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2015–present  Ireland 26 (20)

Cliodhna Moloney (born 31 May 1993)[1] is an Irish women's rugby union player from Kilconly, County Galway, Republic of Ireland.[3] She currently plays for Railway Union RFC, Leinster Rugby (province) and the Ireland women's national rugby union team as a hooker.[1]

Career

Prior to playing rugby, Moloney had played Gaelic football at youth level.[4] She played for Corofin and was a part of the Galway GAA team that played in the All-Ireland Football Championships.[5][6] Moloney started playing rugby while studying for a degree in sport with business at the Institute of Technology, Sligo despite working as a Gaelic football coach for Sligo GAA through the Institute of Technology.[7][8] She had been invited by a Dublin friend of hers to join one of their training sessions.[7] From this, she joined Dublin based Railway Union RFC in 2014.[4][9]

After Ireland's disappointing form in the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup she joined Wasps in 2018 to play in the Premier 15s. She missed most of her first season in England due to shoulder surgery.[10]

International career

Moloney made her international debut for Ireland in 2015 against the England women's national rugby union team at The Stoop in London.[11] Afterwards she was selected to play for Ireland in the 2015 Women's Six Nations Championship.[12] Following this, she led calls for the Women's Six Nations Championship to share stadiums with the men's Six Nations Championship after playing a match against England at Twickenham Stadium.[13] In 2017, she was a part of Ireland's 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup campaign hosted in Ireland.[14] She was a part of promotion for the tournament at University College Dublin, where the group games of the Women's Rugby World Cup were to be held at the UCD Bowl.[15]

Moloney missed the 2019 International season due to shoulder surgery.

In 2020 she was Player of the Match in the 2020 Women's Six Nations game against Wales and ended the season as Rugby Players Ireland 2020 Women's Player of the Year.

She was Ireland's first-choice hooker for the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship.

In February 2021 she was selected on the Irish Women's Team of the Decade by the Front Row Union website.[16]

Personal life

Moloney is one of seven children from a farming background. She went to secondary school in St Brigid's Tuam and to college at Institute of Technology Sligo. She works as a banker, previously for KBC Bank Ireland and now as a compliance analyst for Metro Bank.[17]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Cliodhna Moloney". IRFU. Archived from the original on 31 October 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Preview: 2017 Women's Interprovincial Series". www.leinsterrugby.ie. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  3. ↑ "Our 12 Girls in Green: Cliodhna Moloney". Leinster Rugby. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  4. 1 2 "Cliodhna Moloney". Irish Independent. Retrieved 3 November 2017 – via PressReader.com.
  5. ↑ "Corofin Club News". Connacht Ladies Gaelic. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  6. ↑ "Corofin crowned Senior champions". Tuam Herald. 19 September 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  7. 1 2 "'Crouch, Pause, Engage!' Cliodhna Bids For World Cup Glory". IT Sligo. 8 August 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  8. ↑ "Sligo Coaching Scheme Programme in Full Flow". Ladiesgaelic.ie. 11 May 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  9. ↑ "Life in KBC Bank and 6 Nations Stardom". Morgan McKinley. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  10. ↑ "The rise of Ireland hooker Cliodhna Moloney". Rugby World. 7 March 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  11. ↑ "Six debuts in Ireland women's side for historic England clash". The Irish Times. 10 November 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  12. ↑ "Women's Six Nations: Ireland call up Cliodhna Moloney for France game". BBC Sport. 11 February 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  13. ↑ "Cliodhna Moloney wants Six Nations stadium share with the men". Irish Examiner. 27 February 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  14. ↑ Kate Rowan (24 July 2017). "Women's Rugby World Cup hosts Ireland announce squad as pool stages sell out". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  15. ↑ "RUGBY: Ireland counting down to hosting Rugby Women's World Cup – Belfast Newsletter". News Letter. 20 June 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  16. ↑ "Ireland Women: Team of the Decade". The Front Row Union. 15 February 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  17. ↑ "In a league of their own: Meet our Women's World Cup rugby players at their day job". Irish Independent. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
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