Mohammed Bahaa
Influential rugby player Ilona Maher, a bronze medalist at the Paris Olympics, is focused on competing for the US team in the Women's Rugby World Cup in England. With just a year to go until the tournament, World Rugby has begun the countdown to the prestigious event, creating buzz among players and supporters.
Maher has recently become a well-known social media rugby celebrity. Her popularity has exploded on Instagram, where she has overtaken some of the most famous rugby players with 3.8 million followers on Instagram and 2.3 million on TikTok. Further demonstrating her influence, Maher has over three times as many followers on Instagram as the current world champions, the Springboks, and more than the legendary All Blacks at 1.3 million. All Blacks icon Dan Carter has 1.1 million followers, while Springbok captain Siya Kolisi has 1.3 million.
Maher has brought new fans to rugby with her engaging and candid social media posts. Her active online presence drew new fans who cheered her on when the U.S. won the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics. Many of her videos highlight her athleticism, set to the song “Feminomenone” by Chappell Lawn, cleverly blending the ideas of femininity and phenom.
Maher recently expressed her desire to join the U.S. 15-a-side squad for the Women's Rugby World Cup, building on the team's historic success in rugby sevens. “New rugby fans, fear not, we've got rugby for you,” Maher said in a TikTok, emphasizing the importance of the upcoming World Cup, saying, “This is absolutely going to be a big thing.”
“This is 15-a-side rugby and what we saw at the Olympics is 7-a-side rugby, but it's amazing how many different forms of rugby there are to watch,” she said, before continuing to educate fans on the different forms of rugby. “I'll try to get myself in, I'll try to get into the team and see if they can use me somewhere on the field.”
“Ilona is undoubtedly a superstar in the game – that's all,” World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin said. “She is the most followed athlete in rugby and has more followers than most, if not all, of the celebrities in Paris, adding 300,000 new followers on Instagram and 100,000 new followers on TikTok overnight.”
Fans will be closely watching Maher as she prepares for the next stage of her rugby career and to see if she can once again make her mark on the world stage at the Women's Rugby World Cup in 2025.
