Chiefs Women make their mark in the opening rounds of the 2025 Six Nations
Although Guinness Women’s Six Nations is taking a rest for a week, it provides a good opportunity to recognise the contribution made by six Exeter Chiefs Women’s players.
Robinson came close to getting her first cap off the bench back in 2021, but a floodlight failure resulted in England’s away match against France being abandoned without her stepping foot on the field.
Meanwhile, winger Claudia MacDonald also made her return to an England shirt having not played for the Red Roses since the inaugural WXV 1 in 2023, due to a serious neck injury. She made her comeback in style with a try on the back of a deft cross-field kick from Holly Aitchison to help the home side to a 38-5 victory.
MacDonald said: “There were times when I thought I wouldn’t play for England again. I didn’t feel like there was a game coming until I ran out in my anthem jacket today and it all sort of hit me. I did have a little tear in my eye.
“It feels amazing to be back in with the squad. The environment and the culture that we’ve built is amazing. The team has moved on since I was last in the squad, and I felt like a brand-new player. The way we’re playing has progressed and is different, the language we’re using, the level of detail is immense. It felt like there was a lot to learn and a lot to catch up on."
Last, but not least for the Red Roses, Maddie Feaunati made her first start in the No 8 jersey for England causing glorious chaos as she made 110 metres and 15 carries, plus a 100% tackle success rate. This resulted in her being named Player of the Match and retaining her starting slot for last week’s game against Wales.
Having been denied two tries against Italy, Feaunati scored a brace at the Principality Stadium to contribute to the final 12-67 scoreline.
Meanwhile, Chiefs had three players on duty for Ireland, captained by flanker Edel ‘Tricky’ McMahon. They began their campaign with a tough fixture at the Kingspan Stadium in Belfast against France. Although disappointed by 15-27 defeat, it marked the return from injury for both McMahon (hamstring) and hooker Cliodhna Moloney (calf), and a start for lock and recently re-signed Dorothy Wall.
Last week, the women in green travelled to the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Palma to take on Italy. McMahon transferred her leadership role to a place in the starting line-up with Moloney and Wall both coming off the bench. Wall got her name on the scoresheet with a try in the 65th minute to help secure a 12-54 victory.
McMahon said: “It has been a quick turnaround from the club season finishing and getting straight back into international duty. I was buzzing to make it back for the first game.
“We still performed in parts of that game against France, and it was rewarding to see how far we have bridged those gaps with the tier-one nations. It was frustrating and disappointing to let a game, that was well within our capacity to win, get away from us though.
“I was hugely proud of the performance we put in against Italy. Not everything was as clean and crisp as it could have been. There are areas of our defence and attack that we need to fix before heading into the England game, but overall, we were absolutely relentless with our last try coming in injury time.
“We were still going after more points on the board and that’s kind of testament to us saying we were going to be relentless during the week, believing we could turn around from the frustration of France, and putting to bed some past Italian games too. Saying and believing in things is one part of the puzzle but actually going out and doing it is another. That’s what I am most proud of.”
Ireland and England will go head-to-head for round three of the Women’s Six Nations on Saturday, April 12 (KO 16:45) at Virgin Media Park in Cork. France will take on Wales in Brive at 12:45 and Scotland will host Italy at the Hive Stadium in Edinburgh on Sunday, April 13 (KO 15:00). All games are being broadcast by the BBC.
