Ilona Maher and her Bristol Bears team-mates face a nervous wait on whether they will make the Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) semi-finals despite their 19-10 victory away at Harlequins.
Maher, the world’s most followed rugby player on social media, had her every move of her 73-minute outing cheered by over 6,000 fans at Twickenham Stoop on Friday. The 28-year-old USA Eagles international joined Bristol in January on a three-month contract and helped her side to their crucial win against Harlequins, second in the standings.
After Friday night’s match, Maher spent several minutes on the pitch speaking to Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, who was in attendance.
Victory in what was Bristol’s final PWR (England’s top-flight, 15-a-side league) game of the regulation 2024-25 season keeps them fourth in the table on 53 points with the top four sides set to advance into the semi-finals. The finalists will then meet in London on March 16.
Bristol’s hopes of reaching the last four depend on the progress of Exeter Chiefs, who sit fifth in the table and have two games in hand. Exeter face Saracens on Saturday evening and will follow that with a trip to face Leicester Tigers on February 21.
In order for Bristol, and Maher, to line up again this season they will need Exeter, who they stormed past 45-17 last weekend, to slip up in one or both of their final two matches.
Maher played in six of Bristol’s last seven league matches, scoring four tries in total. The rugby sevens Olympic bronze medalist missed Bristol’s narrow 39-38 defeat to Trailfinders on January 25 having suffered a broken nose in the 43-29 victory over Leicester the previous week.
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Maher’s first game against Gloucester-Hartpury attracted a crowd of over 9,000 (a club and PWR record attendance for a standalone game) and had to be moved to Ashton Gate stadium (a bigger venue than Shaftesbury Park where Bristol’s women’s team play the majority of their matches) following the unprecedented demand for tickets.
A further 4,000 turned out to watch Maher score her first try against Exeter in the following game and the Bears’ home match against Leicester Tigers had to be moved to Ashton Gate to accommodate the number of fans wanting to attend.
Their final home game of the season against top four rivals Exeter also played out at Ashton Gate with Maher scoring two of Bristol’s seven tries.
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(Bob Bradford – CameraSport via Getty Images)
