‘If you’re able to do it, then go ahead and do it.’
GUINNESS is an Official Partner of the Women’s Six Nations, and has launched an initiative to “Never Settle” until sport is a place where everyone can belong, regardless of their gender, race or sexuality. This initiative is part of a long-term commitment from GUINNESS to continue to grow inclusivity and accessibility for everyone in sport.
Growing up on a farm in rural County Galway as the youngest of seven children, that’s exactly the mantra that Cliodhna Moloney grew up with, and values she has taken with her throughout her life.
Whether it was driving a tractor on the fields of Kilconly or performing on the international stage with Ireland, there has been no stopping the hooker from doing anything she sets her mind on achieving.
And after a childhood that saw her excel in Gaelic football – representing her county at the All-Ireland Football Championships – Moloney eventually turned her hand to rugby while at university in Sligo, and from there she was hooked – with the all-action nature of the sport reeling her in with both hands.
“When I was younger I was quite sporty, I’m the youngest of seven, I’ve got three older brothers and three older sisters,” Moloney said.
“We were quite free, and I was quite lucky with my parents in the fact that they never separated us in terms of boys and girls – if we were able to do it we were allowed to do it.
“We grew up on a farm so there was always a lot of work to be done, we were always outdoors in rural north County Galway, which is predominantly Gaelic Football territory.
“But I kept getting into trouble with the refereeing because I was going into contact when it was a non-contact sport, so I kept getting yellow cards and it wasn’t really helping anyone.
“I was a bit too physical and a bit too aggressive, so one of my friends suggested I go and train with the rugby team and see if I can play the game.”
Despite having never set foot on the rugby pitch before, it didn’t take Moloney long to realise this was the sport she loved, with her full-frontal performance in her first training session with Dublin-based Railway Union Rugby RFC immediately catching the eye.
So much so that director of rugby John Cronin wasted no time in getting her into the first team, with the rising star thrown straight into the mix just days after meeting her new teammates – starting her first ever rugby match at inside centre.
With her physical nature and willingness to get stuck in, Moloney took to the rough and tumble of the sport like a duck to water but there was one small issue that got in her way as she ran out for the first time against Navan back in January 2014.
“I didn’t know the rules,” Moloney said. “I’d watched rugby and watched the men’s team and really enjoyed it, but as a spectator you enjoy the spectacle but you don’t really get nuances of the game or anything like that.
“So John was teaching me how to tackle and how to ruck, he was helping me understand all the rules.
“I absolutely loved it, it was really enjoyable running with ball in hand – handing people off and tackling – all that kind of stuff.
“They invested a lot of time in me and moved me in from centre to back-row and then to hooker – I think it was always part of John’s plan.”
From not knowing a ruck from a maul to playing international rugby within 18 months, it was quite the remarkable rise for Moloney, who made her Ireland bow in November 2015.
That time was a transition period for the Irish side, who had just enjoyed their second Women’s Six Nations victory in three years, having recorded a Grand Slam win in 2013 before topping the standings once again two years later – with a fourth-place finish in the 2014 World Cup sandwiched in between.
And Moloney admits the national side’s heroics on the international stage had quite the effect back home, with the popularity of the sport going through the roof with the unprecedented success.
She said: “It was massive, it was the first time I had even seen the team play and the next thing you know they’re talking about it in the news and it’s on the TV and they’ve won.
“I was thinking ‘how can we not know about this team when they’ve just won,’ and it had a huge impact as did the World Cup performances in 2014 as well.
“The players were huge role models for a lot of people and the exposure that it brought around the country meant people could finally see a performing Irish women’s team
“When you see that you want to be part of it and you want to emulate that past success, and you want to be whoever your hero is.”
From the moment she pulled on a green jersey for the first time Moloney hasn’t looked back, with her dominant performances in the pack earning her a move to Wasps in the Allianz Premier 15s after a stellar World Cup campaign in 2017.
After her magnificent rise through the sport after coming to rugby later in life, she is eager for the continuation of the growth of the women’s game – not only in Ireland but around the world.
The 27-year-old has spearheaded Guinness’ Never Settle campaign, which advocates that everybody belongs in sport, and aims to make significant change to the disparity in representation across the board.
This year, for the first time ever, the Women’s Six Nations has its own standalone spot in the sporting calendar, helping to build the profile of players and attract a wider fan base and encouraging more equity in coverage of women’s sport.
As well as that, fans also have the ability to vote for their Player of the Championship for the first time in history, which Moloney believes will only enhance the profile of the sport in the future.
“Just look at the exposure that the Never Settle campaign has given to the athletes who have performed this year,” she said.
“I think everyone in women’s rugby now knows who Beibhinn Parsons and Dorothy Wall are and that’s all stemmed from all of this.
“It’s really important that the fans now have a vote for the Player of the Tournament because you’re going to see plenty of talent on Finals Day across all of the teams.
“It’s really great to have that buy in from fans to make that superstar that young girls and young boys want to be, and put that name up in lights because that’s what will grow the game at grassroots level.
“We should never be settling for the status quo or what women should do or what women’s sport should look like.”
With more and more coverage of the women’s game, and through campaigns like Never Settle, there will soon come a time when we aren’t talking about men’s or women’s rugby, but just as the sport as a whole.
And for Moloney there is definitely hope of that in the future, with the pathway from grassroots to the international game looking as strong as ever in Ireland – with Parsons and Wall already showing how strong the next generation or Irish talent looks.
“It is moving on slightly and I can feel the tide turning a little bit, particularly this year, but it would be good for the next few generations if they didn’t have to know anything about that and could just focus on playing the game and being who they are,” she said.
“I think the future looks really bright, there’s a lot of talent in Ireland and there’s a lot of talent in the younger players that have come through the grass-roots level.
“We definitely have a bright future in Irish rugby, and there’s plenty of talent in those young girls who have come into the squad.
“We need to be able to perform against the best in the world, so it’s about being able to execute under pressure on the huge international stage.”
