Claire Molloy is pictured training with the Ireland Women's squad in 2021 before announcing her retirement from international rugby later that year ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne
Former Ireland captain Claire Molloy, who announced her retirement from rugby last month, is set to play her final game when the Barbarian Women line out against South Africa in Cape Town on Saturday week (September 7).
Molloy is one of four Ireland-capped players in the Barbarians’ travelling squad, with the forwards also including Kathryn Buggy and Ciara Cooney, while current Ulster captain Kathryn Dane is in line to make her debut for the world famous invitational club.
The Barbarian Women’s clash with South Africa is their third meeting in recent years, following the Baa Baas’ 60-5 win at Twickenham Stadium in November 2021, and last year’s 38-26 success in Cape Town.
Fans are set for a rugby bonanza on September 7 with the DHL Stadium playing host to the Springbok Women v Barbarians fixture, as part of a double header with the Men’s Rugby Championship showdown between South Africa and New Zealand.
Rugby World Cup-winning Black Fern and former Barbarians Women’s captain Linda Itunu is the Baa Baa Women’s head coach, with ex-Spain, Exeter Chiefs and Barbarians star Patricia Garcia Rodriguez the assistant coach.
Irish Rugby has been well represented in squad selections since the Barbarian Women’s historic debut match, a 19-0 win over Munster at Thomond Park in November 2017.
Both Buggy (pictured above) and Cooney were part of the squad that secured that 12-point victory in Cape Town last September, and also a 45-12 triumph over Munster in Limerick a week later.
Molloy earned her first Barbarians cap against England at Twickenham in June 2019, and of the selected squad for Cape Town, the Galway native is one of seven players who will be playing their final international match, in the legendary black-and-white stripes.
Molloy won 74 caps for Ireland and is a two-time Six Nations winner, including the 2013 Grand Slam. She played in three 15s Rugby World Cups, captaining her country at the 2017 tournament on home soil, as well as the 2013 World Cup Sevens event.
The 36-year-old flanker recently concluded her club career playing for Bristol Bears, having also featured for Cardiff Quins, Galwegians, Bristol Ladies, and Wasps. She is a qualified doctor and works in Paediatric Emergency Medicine in Cardiff.
Next week’s match against South Africa will also have huge significance for Dane. who has made an inspirational return from the brain haemorrhage she suffered at the IRFU High Performance Centre in November 2022.
The 27-year-old scrum half has worked her way back through a long recovery period to captain Ulster during this month’s Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship.
The invitation to play for the Barbarians marks a massive milestone in her return to rugby, and it is a testament to her resilience and determination to get back playing at elite level.
Backs (11) –
Rachael Burford (England)
Kendra Cocksedge (New Zealand)
Kathryn Dane (Ireland)
Cheta Emba (USA)
Carla Hohepa (New Zealand)
Sarah Law (Scotland)
Rachel Lund (England)
Celia Quansah (England)
Amber Reed (England)
Emily Scott (England)
Lydia Thompson (England)
Forwards (12) –
Kathryn Buggy (Ireland)
Rochelle Clark (England)
Ciara Cooney (Ireland)
Cerys Hale (Wales)
Laura Keates (England)
Joanna Kitlinski (USA)
Rownita Marston-Mulhearn (England)
Charmaine McMenamin (New Zealand)
Abi Meyrick (Wales)
Claire Molloy (Ireland)
Sera Naiqama (Australia)
Alycia Washington (USA)
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