Despite USA’s disappointment, Ilona Maher attracts huge crowd as fans line up to meet her post game against NZ

American union rugby player Ilona Maher has been one of the major individuals in the women's rugby world. She has been cheered on by the fans in several corners of the world, and a testament to it was on display recently at the North Harbour Stadium during the Pacific Four Series.

This came after the USA's third game in the competition, where they were convincingly defeated 79-14 by New Zealand. This defeat was Team USA's third consecutive loss in the competition after defeats to Australia and Canada in the first two games.

Despite Team USA's defeat on Saturday (May 24), a handsome number of supporters had turned up to support Maher. In a recent Instagram video, the 2024 Olympic bronze medalist can be seen hugging and greeting the players on the field who had been waiting in the queue to meet her.

Here is the video:

Ilona Maher's fan base has been constantly on the rise in recent years. She also received impressive support during her time in England while she was playing for PWR side, Bristol Bears. Maher and Team USA's next major assignment is at the 2025 Rugby World Cup, where they will face England in their opening match on August 22.

Ilona Maher shed light on her vision for a bat

Ilona Maher shared her thoughts on the growth of more superstars in rugby before she retires from the sport. Speaking in an interview, Maher shared that growing the brand of rugby should not be just about her, but also for the other players and teammates.

Maher expressed that though she loves playing the sport, she isn't sure how much time she will be around this circuit. She said (via RugbyPass):

"I do make my brand about growing rugby, but I think it’s not just me growing it. It’s all of us. It’s my teammates all of us who need a little bit of the spotlight as well. I think the spotlight has been on me a lot, but I hope this World Cup brings more people out and creates more rugby superstars. I’m getting up there. I love playing and it’s a big part of my life, but I don’t know how much longer I’ll do it."

During the conversation, Ilona Maher also remarked that she hasn't spent prolonged leisure moments in recent months as she is occupied with several endeavors, such as business, social media and sports.

About the author

Soumik is a journalist at Sportskeeda who covers US Olympics. Currently an Honors student of Journalism and Mass Communication, he has also worked for other firms as a tennis and football content writer.

Soumik’s favorite Olympian is Michael Phelps and he believes that the eight-time Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer has revolutionized the spectrum of Swimming. Nonetheless, the adrenaline rush that Track & Field sports offer interests him the most; and Neeraj Chopra’s historic gold-medal victory at the 2020 Tokyo Games is his favorite moment from past Olympics.

Soumik sources data and facts from credible sources like BBC and NBC for accurate and relevant reporting, and keeps up with updates on social media and news media platforms.

He feels that covering collegiate tournaments, similar to what is done in the United States can be a good way to cover the bridge the coverage gap during the Olympics off season.

When not reporting on the latest Olympics news stories, Soumik likes to play cricket and watch movies.

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Edited by Luke Koshi