“She’s given everyone a massive lift,” says Holly Aitchison, the Bristol and England first-five. “We were all buzzing when we knew that she’d signed.
“Anyone with that kind of profile is going to put eyes on the game, which can only be a good thing for us.”
Maher’s influence had already widened to all four corners of the globe long before the Paris Olympics. From challenging the stereotype that rugby players need to be masculine to normalising cellulite and sharing her own experiences of being shamed for her muscular physique, Maher has spent the past few years offering an unfiltered view of being a “bigger-bodied” female athlete.
“All body types are worthy,” she posted on the eve of the Paris Games.
Over the next fortnight, her videos championing body positivity, accompanied with the hashtag #beastbeautybrains, saw her hit one million Instagram followers to surpass Siya Kolisi, South Africa’s two-time World Cup-winning captain as rugby’s most followed player. She now has more than eight million across Instagram and TikTok.
It seems strange that rugby’s biggest social media star should be unearthed in the United States, where less than 1% of the country’s population actually play the sport. But when you consider Maher’s talkative, bubbly personality, authenticity and endearing optimism, perhaps it is not that much of a surprise after all.
After the US women’s sevens team secured their historic bronze medal, Maher-mania quickly spread. Michele Kang, the American entrepreneur and one of the biggest philanthropists in women’s sport, donated US$4 million (NZ$7m) to the US women’s sevens programme. It is this sort of transformative impact that sees Maher place second in The Daily Telegraph’s list of the 50 most influential women in sport in 2024.
The 28-year-old’s soaring popularity has ushered in a new wave of fans in rugby, a sport that has, in recent years with its labyrinth of law changes and financial challenges, struggled to reach new – and crucially – younger audiences. Which is why this woman from the state of Vermont has become the sport’s most prized marketing tool.
During an appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers after her Olympic success, Maher used the primetime US chat show to put rugby on the map in America.
“My dad was a rugby player, he played for more than 40 years, but never got me into it,” Maher said on the show. “I wanted to try it in my senior year of high school and I think it just clicked for me.
“It just really encourages you to be physical and show what your body is capable of. They want you to run as fast as you can.
“They want you to tackle as hard as you can. I think that really allowed me to express myself.”
Over the past few months, some of the world’s biggest brands have linked up with her. This past year alone, Maher has signed deals with a host of female-centric brands including L’Oreal, Maybelline and apparel company New Era while co-launching her own skincare line, Medalist.
But her unveiling as a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model, in which she proudly showed off her broad back and muscular shoulders, elevated her messages of body positivity to new heights. For a female rugby player, this was uncharted territory.
Rugby, too, was a permanent feature of Maher’s subsequent appearance on Dancing With The Stars which saw her break even more ground as she lifted her partner, Alan Bersten, off it.
She dedicated her rumba to her US sevens team-mates and, in her final dance to Chappell Roan’s Femininomenon hit, she caught a rugby glitterball that was chucked her way. The act would herald her next move, as she announced she would be joining Bristol on a three-month contract in a bid to target a place in the US squad at next year’s XVs World Cup in England.
Bristol did much of the heavy lifting in securing Maher’s signature. She briefly linked up with the squad earlier this month before flying back to the US to fulfil more commitments.
“She’s so down to Earth,” says Dave Ward, the Bristol Bears head coach. “She just wants to crack on and be part of the team. That is her personality and that’s why it’s really easy for me to get on well with her and talk rugby.
“We’ve talked a bit about England and have had a bit of a laugh, but it’s been pretty easy for me. She’s got on great with the girls and we’ve had little skill blocks where we’ve played a bit of volleyball and that’s where we’ve seen her come out of her shell a little bit more because she’s in a new environment.
“From our perspective, we’re really happy with the way she’s settled in.”
Maher has already used her profile to spotlight PWR – a league where the majority of players still juggle rugby with full-time jobs – which is likely to help other women broaden their own social media horizons.
“What’s interesting about Ilona is that she’s just cut through in a way that perhaps other people haven’t had the opportunity to do,” says Genevieve Shore, the PWR chair.
“Her approach to female power is just quite exceptional. I hope this gives other women and other men the confidence to be themselves. Let’s all celebrate it.”
