American Olympic bronze medallist Ilona Maher has signed for Bristol Bears for the remainder of the Premiership Ladies’s Rugby season.
Maher is probably the most adopted rugby union participant on the earth on social media, with 4.5 million Instagram followers and three.2 million on TikTok.
The utility again, who can play at centre or on the wing, has signed a three-month deal from January.
The 28-year-old has arrived in Bristol to start coaching along with her new team-mates this week, earlier than returning to her native United States till the brand new 12 months.
Bears head coach Dave Ward mentioned Maher’s arrival is a “large coup” for the membership.
“Ilona is without doubt one of the greatest names in girls’s sport, not to mention rugby, and we consider she is going to add actual worth to our programme on and off the sector,” mentioned Ward.
“She is without doubt one of the standout stars within the sevens recreation and we won’t wait to see her play for Bears in XVs. Her capability ball-in-hand will give our assault a brand new dimension and her need to star within the Rugby World Cup in England subsequent summer time is a big driving power for her to realize nice issues at Bears.
“Her profile as an athlete to encourage the following era aligns precisely with ours as a membership and we are able to solely applaud the work she has and can do for the ladies’s recreation.”
The information comes as Maher returns to XVs for the primary time since 2021, having centered on sevens for the previous three years.
Talking solely to BBC Sport, PWR chair Genevieve Shore mentioned “we would like one of the best athletes on the earth taking part in within the PWR” and that Maher’s arrival had been organized in “just some weeks – it has been pretty fast”.
Shore went on to explain Maher’s potential on and off the pitch as “countless”.
“She’s an unbelievable athlete, she’s an unbelievable rugby participant, she was superb on the sevens,” mentioned Shore.
“I believe she’ll even have an unbelievable affect in particular person, too. Consider all these little ladies and boys who’re going to pitch as much as that first recreation and watch her play.
“I am excited to see what that affect seems to be like.”
