United States sevens star Ilona Maher will join Bristol in January for the rest of the season with the aim of appearing at next year’s World Cup.
Maher, the game’s most popular player on social media with over eight million followers including 4.6million on Instagram, was a standout performer in the Eagles’ bronze medal finish at the Olympics during the summer.
The 28-year-old plays centre and wing and her arrival will bolster Bristol’s pursuit of the Premiership Women’s Rugby title.
“It’s a huge coup to be able to bring Ilona Maher to Bristol Bears on a short-term deal,” head coach Dave Ward said.
“She is one of the biggest names in women’s sport – let alone rugby – and we believe she will add real value to our programme on and off the field. Her ability ball in hand will give our attack a new dimension.”
Maher has spent the last three years in the USA’s sevens programme but is seeking to relaunch her 15s career with the 2025 World Cup taking place next autumn.
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here