USA Eagles star Ilona Maher has signed a three-month contract with Premiership Ladies’s Rugby facet Bristol Bears, the membership has confirmed.
Whereas the deal will see her play for Bristol from January, Maher has already landed within the UK this week to start coaching, earlier than she returns to the U.S. till the brand new 12 months.
Maher, probably the most adopted rugby participant on the planet on social media, is predicted to attract loads of consideration to the sport forward of the 2025 Ladies’s Rugby World Cup in England.
The 28-year-old, who helped the US win rugby sevens bronze on the Paris Olympics, hopes the transfer to Bristol will assist cement her spot within the Eagles squad for subsequent 12 months’s event.
“I’m excited to affix the Bristol Bears and put myself in one of the best place to earn a spot to characterize USA within the 2025 Rugby World Cup alongside such a proficient and pushed group because the Bears,” Maher stated.
Bears head coach David Ward stated the deal is a win for each events.
“This can be a large coup to have the ability to deliver Ilona Maher to Bristol Bears on a short-term deal. She is likely one of the greatest names in girls’s sport, not to mention rugby, and we imagine she is going to add actual worth to our programme on and off the sphere,” Ward stated.
“Ilona is likely one of the standout stars within the sevens recreation and we won’t wait to see her play for Bears in XVs. Her potential 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 pressure for her to realize nice issues at Bears.
“Her profile as an athlete to encourage the following technology aligns precisely with ours as a membership and we will solely applaud the work she has and can do for the ladies’s recreation.”
