Ireland are gearing up to host the USA in the first ever Test match to be played at Tallaght Stadium on Sunday (kick-off 1.45pm), which also launches the Vodafone Ireland WXV Series.
The teams have played each other twice in recent seasons, and Clíodhna Moloney-MacDonald was involved in both games, including as a try scorer in their most recent meeting in October 2024.
Ireland got the better of the US Women's Eagles at the RDS in a 2021 autumn Test, running out 20-10 winners with Béibhinn Parsons among the try scorers, and Stacey Flood kicking five points.
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At the WXV1 tournament in Canada two years ago, the girls in green overturned a 14-7 half-time deficit to win 26-14 thanks to a penalty try, and late scores from Moloney-MacDonald, via a maul, and Amee-Leigh Costigan.
The Galway-born hooker is well placed to assess the strengths of the American team, especially with her Exeter Chiefs team-mate, Hope Rogers, starting in the visitors' front row.
Appointed as the new US head coach last December, Skerries man Jack Hanratty oversaw a third place finish in the 2026 Pacific Four Series, and a drawn series with South Africa in July, the tour concluding with a 26-19 victory in Pretoria.
"The US are quite physical. They've had a change in coaches relatively recently," said Moloney-MacDonald, who will start on Sunday as she wins her 55th international cap.
"They also have Lou Meadows (as an assistant coach), who has gone across from the English set-up.
"They played against South Africa in the summer, and things will probably look even more different from then, because they've had a bit more chance to develop their playing style.
"They have got some Sevens background in a lot of their back-line as well. So a multi-threat team with offloading skills and a variety of kicking styles. Definitely, for forwards, it's the physical challenge that we're prepping for most."
The 33-year-old had the honour of scoring the opening try during Ireland's first standalone game at the Aviva Stadium in May, as Scott Bemand's charges put Scotland to the sword.
She was ever-present in the front row across the 2026 Championship, also touching down against Italy and France, and became the 16th female player in Irish Rugby history to reach the 50-cap mark.
Shortlisted for the Six Nations Team of the Championship line-up, she was beaten to the hooker spot by England's Amy Cokayne, but was certainly one of the tournament's most influential forwards.
As well as entertaining the Eagles, Ireland have back-to-back encounters with Japan - next week's fixture in Galway is also part of the Vodafone Ireland WXV Series - before embarking on a historic tour to play South Africa twice in Cape Town.
Despite no silverware being on offer in the Global Series, the results still have plenty of importance attached to them in terms of World Rugby rankings and the route to Rugby World Cup qualification.
"It would have been nice if there was a format that you could be eligible to win," admitted Moloney-MacDonald.
"But our goal within this window is to win all those five games. That doesn't really change based on whether there is a trophy available or not."
Meanwhile, there has been plenty of talk this week surrounding the IRFU's combined bid with the Scottish and Welsh Unions to join the PWR (Premiership Women's Rugby) in England.
Back in April, the PWR welcomed expressions of interest for the expansion of the current nine-team English league. A potential merger could see the Celtic Challenge unite with England's elite competition to form a British and Irish league.
Lynne Cantwell, the IRFU's Head of Women's Strategy, views it as a 'massive opportunity' and said it would be 'really significant to have our national players and emerging players be part of the best elite domestic league in the world'.
If the combined Celtic bid is successful, the PWR's cross-border expansion to 12 teams is being targeted for the 2028/29 season at the earliest.
Moloney-MacDonald, who has played in England with Wasps and Exeter since 2018, believes it would be a brilliant move to have an Irish side competing with the best clubs across the water.
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"I think it would be great. The PWR is full of a whole variety of internationals that pose lots of different threats and opportunities, so any chance that they (Irish players) get throughout the year to play against those is brilliant.
"The Celtic Challenge added in that level for a little while, but it would definitely be a step-up just in terms of the amount of games that they would be playing.
"That would be brilliant because obviously they'd be home and away every single weekend. It would be 18 fixtures or 16 fixtures, whatever it is.
"It would be very difficult for the side coming from Ireland, having to travel every second week, but it is something the girls would relish. They'd love to be a part of it, and it would be very exciting for the league as well," she added.
Of the squad that Bemand has assembled for this international window, Moloney-MacDonald, Brittany Hogan, Neve Jones, Niamh O'Dowd, Aoife Wafer, Dorothy Wall, and Niamh Gallagher all currently play for PWR clubs.
