Moloney-MacDonald scores four as England beat USA in New Jersey in WXV Global Series

Claudia Moloney-MacDonald ran in four tries as England defeated the United States in New Jersey on 30 October 2026 in the WXV Global Series, but head coach John Mitchell was left with concerns over set-piece and attacking cohesion despite the victory.

England began strongly with Moloney-MacDonald touching down twice inside the first 12 minutes, the second coming after a looping mis-pass from fly-half Holly Aitchison, yet the sixth-ranked United States remained competitive far longer than when they were beaten 69-7 by England in Sunderland during last year’s Rugby World Cup build-up.

The match exposed issues in England’s platform: their line-out struggled early, a rolling maul failed to be launched from two promising positions and Kathryn Treder had a try disallowed for obstruction; the scrum also came under pressure with Maud Muir penalised as Hope Rogers contested the set-piece.

The hosts made tangible gains through physical carries, which produced a short-range score from Rogers as she burrowed beneath Maddie Feaunati, and the United States also went over through Kate Zackary late on; Emma Sing’s incisive line set up Meg Jones to restore a 10-point lead by half-time even though the interval statistics favoured the visitors for territory, possession and metres made.

Moloney-MacDonald’s third and fourth tries shortly after the restart pushed England 20 points clear and effectively decided the contest, while England’s bench made an impact with Hannah Botterman impressing after introduction and Ellie Kildunne weaving into play after coming on, contributing to four tries scored in the final quarter.

Physicality from the United States persisted—highlighted by a notable hit from Alev Kelter that lifted and dumped captain Meg Jones—and replacement prop Mona Lisa Tupou was shown a yellow card for a scrum infringement; Zackary’s dive over at the death completed the scoring for the hosts.

United States: Cowdrey; Mataitoga, Henrich, Vogel, Kelter; Mason, Paton; Rogers, Treder, Sagapolu-Senele, Taufoou, Ehrecke, Humphreys, Perris-Redding (co-capt), Tafuna. Replacements: Stathopoulos, Carlton, Tupou, Jarrell-Searcy (co-capt), Bailey, Zackary, Bargell, Hann.

England: Sing; Venner, Jones, Heard, Moloney-MacDonald; Aitchison, Robinson; Carson, Cokayne, Muir, Talling, Ives Campion, Burton, Kabeya, Feaunati Replacements: Field, Botterman, Bern, Short, Matthews, Hunt, Harrison, Kildunne

This was England’s final outing in the WXV Global Series, coming after two defeats to Canada over the previous fortnight, and the result gives Mitchell areas to address ahead of the start of their Women's Six Nations title defence in April.