Ilona Maher says the measure of success with Bristol for her would be if she has “caught up” with the USA 15s team for this year’s Rugby World Cup.
The 28-year-old signed for Bears in December with the goal of making the USA squad for the tournament during August and September in England. Before moving to the Premiership Women’s Rugby club this month, Maher last played 15s rugby in 2021 but was a central figure in the nation winning Olympic sevens bronze at the Paris Games.
Maher, who has more than eight million social media followers and was also runner-up on Dancing with the Stars – the American equivalent of Strictly Come Dancing, said: “I think success will look to me if I understand the game of 15s more. I am in it, I feel the flow of it. I have been doing sevens for so long that I [know] sevens like the back of my hand, I feel very comfortable with it.
“With 15s it’s all rugby but it is a little different so [success would be] feeling like I can enter that USA team not feeling like I am catching up, [I want to feel like] I’ve caught up. I am there and fit seamlessly in.”
Maher, whose deal lasts until the end of the season, made her debut for Bristol against Gloucester-Hartpury earlier this month and the game was moved to Ashton Gate to accommodate an unprecedented ticket demand. The match broke the club’s attendance record for a PWR game with 9,240 fans in the stands.
She started and scored her first try against Exeter last time out in a crucial win for the team. Bristol are fifth and sit three points outside of the top-four spots.
As well as breaking down barriers on the pitch, Maher tries to use her platform to change the perception of what an athlete should be. When asked what stereotypes she wants to debunk, she said: “The idea of if you play a sport you have to be this way or that. [People say] you’re masculine if you play rugby or you’re too much. I think what is so cool is to see the change in the narrative. Girls wear makeup when they play rugby just because they want to look good.
“Beast, beauty, brains. You can be all three. For me wearing lipstick is a fun thing I get to do. It’s a fuck you to anyone who thinks that because I run through people I can’t feel beautiful or sexy. For me, I just think we are all debunking it now
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“I love it when [a player] puts on a full face of makeup and they go out there and they slay the game, they bump through people, they tackle as hard as they can. A little foundation isn’t going to stop you from being a great athlete … We have just got to stop putting these female athletes in a box. We are so much more than what these stereotypes are.”
