Moloney extends deal with Exeter Chiefs Women

Irish hooker Cliodhna Moloney has committed her future to Exeter Chiefs Women by extending her contract into the 2025/26 season.

On the brink of her 50th appearance for the club, Moloney joined Chiefs in 2022 after Wasps were disbanded.

She has scored 24 tries for the Exeter Chiefs, earning a recall to the Ireland squad along the way. Most recently, she appeared in all five 2025 Women’s Six Nations games after recovering from a calf injury.

Interim head coach Steve Salvin said: “Cli has been a crucial part of our squad over the last three years. She brings so much experience and rugby nous to every game she plays in. We look forward to her returning to Sandy Park post-World Cup and continuing her career with us.”

With an athletic career rooted in Gaelic football, Moloney was a part of the Galway GAA team that played in the All-Ireland Football Championships.

Moloney went onto coach Sligo GAA while embarking on her first foray into rugby with Dublin-based Railway Union RFC in 2014.

A year later, she made her international debut for Ireland in 2015 and was part of Ireland's 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup campaign before being named as Rugby Women's Player of the Year at the Rugby Player Ireland Awards in 2020. The 31-year-old, who boasts some of the best hair braiding on the women’s circuit, is now looking ahead to the Women’s Rugby World Cup and the PWR beyond.

Moloney, who recently married team-mate Claudia MacDonald, said: said: “Moving to Devon has been one of the best decisions of my career, not only professionally, but also personally. The quality of life and quality of rugby on offer were a huge deciding factor in Claudia and I making our move to the south west. We are incredibly happy here.

"Women's rugby is moving in a very exciting direction. We have the upcoming Women's Rugby World Cup to look forward to at Sandy Park, but we also have a new chapter to look forward to for Exeter Chiefs Women. I am very excited and honoured to be part of the next steps for this club."