International rugby superstar Ilona Maher played her eighth and final match for Bristol Bears on Sunday afternoon as her team fell to a 36-20 defeat to rivals Gloucester-Hartpury in their Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) semi-final.
Bristol owned their status of “underdogs” going into the game with head coach Dave Ward saying his team were relishing the chance to pull off an upset. They started brightly scoring two tries in the opening ten minutes but ultimately fell short of their goal when vying to make it into back-to-back PWR finals.
Even with the star power of the globally-recognised Maher, a United States bronze medallist in rugby sevens at the Paris Olympics, Bristol were unable to avenge their defeat to Gloucester in the PWR final a year ago.
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As the second half began, Bristol looked to tap into the gutsy performance which earned them a 14-19 win away at Gloucester back in November with Maher scoring a try in the 58th minute to cut Gloucester’s semi-final lead to 19-15. The game was a much closer affair than Maher’s much-anticipated debut on January 5 which ended in a 17-40 defeat to Gloucester at Ashton Gate in front of a record 9,000-strong crowd.
Maher, a social media giant with 8.4 million followers across TikTok and Instagram, joined Bristol on a three-month contract in January.
A season of ups and downs but thank you for being with us every step of the way 💙
See you in 2025/26! 👋 pic.twitter.com/ZX6NDksLwf
— Bristol Bears Women 🐻 (@BristolBearsW) March 2, 2025
Making the switch from rugby sevens to the 15-a-side game as she vies for a place in the USA Eagles team for this summer’s rugby World Cup, Maher featured in seven league matches and scored four tries in total.
The 28-year-old winger would have featured in eight league games had it not been for suffering a broken nose during Bristol’s home win against Leicester Tigers in her third match. Maher was sidelined for one game but made the trip to Trailfinders in west London to support her team donning bruises beneath her eyes.
Gloucester will now do battle with Saracens on March 16 after the London club defeated Harlequins 32-24 on Saturday.
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(Andrew Matthews/PA Images via Getty Images)
