Four-try Moloney-MacDonald sparks England's 55-12 demolition of USA after being dropped

Claudia Moloney-MacDonald scored four tries as England’s Red Roses closed out their WXV North American campaign with a 55-12 victory over the USA Women’s Eagles at Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey. The result brought a positive end to a difficult tour that had seen John Mitchell’s world champions lose twice to Canada, ending a 41-game unbeaten run in the process.

For Moloney-MacDonald, the performance carried particular personal weight. The 30-year-old had been dropped for the second Test against Canada following what she described as a below-par display in the 24-21 loss in Toronto, and she was candid about why the axe fell.

“My personal performance in that first game in Toronto was far from how I want to represent myself on a rugby pitch,” Moloney-MacDonald told RugbyPass. “I know I didn’t perform very well. In a way, that’s almost a silver lining, isn’t it? When you get dropped from a squad, you can justify it in your own head. At this level the standard is too high — you have to be at your best and performing well week in, week out to deserve a shirt. I knew myself that I didn’t deserve the shirt the following week.”

Recalled for the final Test, she made the most of her opportunity. “I was super chuffed to get the chance this week, go out there and play in an England jersey again. Hopefully I deserved it and I put out a performance I’m slightly more proud of.”

The wider context made the win all the more significant. England had been beaten convincingly by Kévin Rouet’s Canada side in both Toronto and Ottawa, and needed a strong response heading into a lengthy break from international rugby. Defeating a USA team that had won five consecutive matches — their first such streak in two decades — provided exactly that.

“I actually got a little bit emotional after the game because we’d spoken about the response we wanted from the squad and how quickly we could learn from the last two games,” Moloney-MacDonald said. “That’s what it was all about: how quickly we could learn and how quickly we could put in a performance that we are proud of. We wanted that response to start straight away, this week, from the very first training session. That’s exactly what we did. All week we really attacked it. We were really unified as a group. To finish with a performance like that is just brilliant.”

England’s nine-try performance will offer Mitchell’s squad a measure of confidence to carry into the new year. The Red Roses return to action on 10 April when they travel to Cardiff to face Wales in their 2027 Guinness Women’s Six Nations opener.