Red Roses: Claudia MacDonald

WINGER

Birthplace: Epsom, Surrey, DOB: 04/01/96, Community Club: Durham University, Club: Exeter Chiefs, Red Roses Debut: USA, November 2018 Caps: 30

Why I play rugby: It’s a place where I can continue to be driven and competitive

Claudia MacDonald says the England camp has a new and improved look to it as her side prepare for the inaugural WXV competition in New Zealand that kicks off next month.

England are in WXV 1 that consists of the six premier women’s teams alongside Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France and Wales. The Red Roses get their campaign underway on October 20 at Sky Stadium in Wellington against Australia.

The 27-year-old winger is hoping the two-match warm up series against Canada will put them in good stead. She said: “The Canada warm up matches should prepare us well to play against Australia, Canada again and then New Zealand. They are really exciting fixtures out there that we’re eager to get into.”

England will be led for the first time under new head coach John Mitchell after his involvement as Japan defence coach concludes. MacDonald is excited to play for the former All Blacks boss as well as the other new coaching staff members; Sarah Hunter, Lou Meadows and Charlie Hayter, who have succeeded Simon Middleton’s eight-year reign. She said: “It’s a new platform to build forward from and having him come in is a new set of eyes, new way of approaching the game with him alongside the other new coaches. That gives it a fresh look which is good in terms of having new ideas and is a bit of a rebuild. I’m excited to have John involved.”

MacDonald, who has won 28 caps, previously operated as a scrum-half for club and country but says her days as a nine are over and is competing for a position on England’s flanks against the likes of Ellie Kildunne, Jess Breach, Abby Dow and Lydia Thompson.

She added: “I’m pretty solidly in the wing bank rather than a scrum-half now. There’s elements of the role I miss but I’m enjoying playing on the wing and seeing what can happen out there.

“There’s always tough competition and that’s what you expect coming into an international camp. We’re used to that level of competition week in week out in the Premiership. There’s competition for every spot which makes training more intense with still a lot of fun in it.”

The host cities for the home World Cup in 2025 were announced at the end of August with eight stadiums chosen across the country and MacDonald hopes their support base continues to spiral as a result of picking up local supporters.

She said: “The fact it’s going all over the country is really cool. We want to bring the women’s game everywhere and each place we’ve been to so far we’ve had such incredible support. “You couple that with the Premiership final at the end of the season in Gloucester, credit to them because they packed it out in red and white and there were so many local fans. For a lot of them that was their first ever women’s game and momentum is building so much for the World Cup, so it’s really cool we’ll go all over England and hopefully pick up more fans as it’s goes on. The one I’m most excited about are the games at Sandy Park as that feels like my home at the moment.”

BEN JAYCOCK