While internationals of an older vintage will surely feel that such structures should have been put in place long before the side began their slide down the world rankings, their belated implementation has allowed players to focus more on the games themselves.
Although those “slurry spreading” comments did precede a period of international exile, Moloney-MacDonald is the only player in this year’s squad who was also present when Ireland were last at the World Cup in 2017.
“Probably the biggest change actually for me from the last number of years is that you can confidently focus on in between the white lines now,” said the Exeter player, one of seven players in the squad who ply their trade in Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR).
Among the changes implemented after a pair of independent reviews into performance and structure were the first professional contracts for XVs players – Ireland were the last of the Six Nations sides to make this step – the creation of the new position of head of women’s performance and pathways filled by Gillian McDarby, and the establishment of a women’s national talent squad (WNTS) with a stated aim to “identify, develop and support female players that have the potential to be selected for national squads”.
Among that first group of WNTS players in 2022 were Aoife Dalton and Dannah O’Brien, two players who figure to play big roles at this World Cup.
While there is still work to be done on the domestic season’s structure, and questions over the level of opposition in both the All-Ireland League and Celtic Challenge competitions remain, Moloney-MacDonald feels young players coming into the squad are now more ready than ever before for the step up to Test rugby.
“They’ve been part of quite high-performance environments for a while with the national talent squads and with Celtic Challenge, even the level that the interpros are going to, so when they come into this environment, they’re now prepared, they’re not coming straight from club rugby, which is really good.
“They’ve got experience of a scheduled week, travelling to away games and stuff like that, silly things that you wouldn’t maybe have [previously] experienced.
“Certainly when I came in, I had no experience of that.”
