American star Ilona Maher bid a tearful farewell to English rugby as she played her final game with Bristol Bears Women.
Maher, who shot to fame during last year’s Paris Olympics, has had a huge impact on women’s rugby in England since her move to Bristol in January, instantly drawing big crowds.
More than 9,200 fans attended Maher’s first home game for the Bears at Ashton Gate – easily double the team’s previous record – while close to 7,000 watched her final Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) game against Gloucester-Hartpury at Queensholm on Sunday.
She scored a try – her fourth in seven games with Bristol – during her final outing but the Bears ultimately fell to a 36-20 defeat in the PWR semifinal.
“To all of you, women’s rugby is changing … please keep coming out and supporting and fill these seats,” a visibly emotional Maher said on Instagram after the game.
“We’re setting records and we need you to buy the shirt, come to the games … This has been an honor to wear this jersey and I just hope that we can continue, even when I’m not playing in the PWR. There’s something special going on here.”
Maher, part of the USA’s bronze-medal-winning team at the Olympics, has won over hordes of fans thanks to her infectious, larger-than-life personality, earning the title of the most-followed rugby player on the internet with around 8.5 million followers across Instagram and TikTok.
Since achieving social media stardom, she has appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s “Swimsuit Edition” and finished runner-up on “Dancing With the Stars” before turning her focus to 15-a-side rugby.
Having spent most of her recent career playing sevens, Maher signed a three-month contract with Bristol in January, hopeful of representing the US at the Women’s Rugby World Cup later this year.
The 28-year-old has played as a wing and center in recent games, scoring her first try – powering through two tackles and running more than half the length of the field – in her second game with the Bears.
After Sunday’s semifinal defeat, coach Dave Ward said that Maher had “put us on the map,” adding: “The energy that she brought to the squad is exactly what we needed at the time … She feels confident going to the USA and I for one can’t wait to see her at the World Cup.”
As well as her performances on the pitch, Maher has also won praise for speaking candidly about body image and standards of beauty, especially in light of her Sports Illustrated cover appearance.
“I have a body that a lot of people would say is not feminine or is not beautiful or is too strong, too this and that,” she told CNN Sport earlier this year.
“I never understood why my big body looked like this, yet I was always so fit and I was always so fast and I could always keep up. I didn’t look like them, so I just love that people are seeing me.”
Source: edition.cnn.com