MacDonald 'terrified' during recovery before England return

Women's Six Nations

England v Italy

Venue: LNER Community Stadium, York Date: Sunday, 23 March Kick-off: 15:00 GMT

Coverage: Live on BBC Two, BBC Radio and BBC Sport website and app

England wing Claudia MacDonald says she has overcome her fear of leaving the house after recovering from a second neck injury to return to the Red Roses set-up.

MacDonald, who can also play at scrum-half, was ruled out of last year's Women's Six Nations after suffering a second neck injury in February 2024.

It followed her first neck injury in 2022, which made the Exeter Chiefs utility back consider retirement.

The 29-year-old returned to the field in Exeter's Premiership Women's Rugby defeat by eventual champions Gloucester-Hartpury in December 2024 and has since been recalled to England's Six Nations squad.

Speaking before the Roses begin the defence of their title against Italy in York on Sunday, MacDonald said she was "terrified" of being near anything rugby related.

"I made a tackle and the next second I was on the floor not able to move my arms or legs so it was pretty scary in the first few moments," said MacDonald on Wednesday.

"In the first couple of months, playing wasn't even on the radar - it was about trying to get my mind around what had happened.

"I was terrified to be anywhere near a rugby pitch or a rugby ball. I didn't want to have my back away from the wall as I didn't want anything behind me because I was scared of being knocked.

"I barely left my house and I was told not to go in a car so it was all quite scary but thankfully we got past all of that."

MacDonald says she had to learn to trust her body again - but being reunited with her club-mates reminded her why she wanted to return to action.

She added: "I would wake up in the morning and check I could move my feet. And then time passes on and you realise that your body is so much tougher and resilient than we give it credit for.

"The scans always helped too and when you could physically see that things were so much better than they were, it gave me confidence.

"It was a long journey towards getting back on to the pitch and it all started with a bit of fitness and just running around and being back at the club, remembering how much I love being with the girls and being out on the pitch, challenging myself physically.

"I've thrown myself into club rugby and then I'm incredibly fortunate that England still want me to have around."

MacDonald is one of four wingers in John Mitchell's England squad, alongside Jess Breach, Mia Venner and Abby Dow, but the Exeter player says she is not thinking about the competition for places during the build-up this year's home World Cup.

"I'm really excited to be back in the squad and I'm and looking forward to the whole campaign," she said.

"Right now is about this Six Nations and putting our best foot forward. The beauty of this squad is we really are Red Roses first.

"We are all incredibly competitive individuals and we all want to be first choice but we have an incredibly good culture and we are building a desire for the whole squad to do really well."