WATCH: Ilona Maher beams with excitement as she spots large poster of herself during Bristol Bears' clash against Exeter Chiefs

American Union rugby player Ilona Maher recently shared her feelings for the fans who came to support her. This came during the Bristol Bears' 45-17 victory against the Exeter Chiefs in the Premiership Women's Rugby.

Maher has received a lot of admiration from the fans ever since she started her campaign last month. Notably, she previously urged fans to come and watch the matches live from the stadium. She shared a note of appreciation for one of her fans who came to the stadium to support her.

Maher took to her Instagram handle to share a moment with the fans in the stadium. In the post, the 28-year-old can be seen in a playful conversation with a fan who came with banners with her pictures. She wrote in the caption:

"I genuinely think you all are just so cool"

Here is the video:

Notably, Ilona Maher's first PWR match against Gloucester-Hartpury drew a remarkable crowd (9240) at their home stadium, Ashton Gate. She came off the bench as a substitute in the 60th minute of the game, which the Bears defeated 40-17.

Ilona Maher talks about the respect that women's sports receive

Maher donning a blue Bristol Bars jersey at Shaftesbury Park during the match against Loughborough Lightning (Image via: Getty Images)

Ilona Maher recently opened up about the respect female athletes are receiving in the current era. In an interview, Maher shared that even though women's sports have faced several doubters, top football and volleyball players in the men's circuit have shown immense respect for the work they have put in.

Additionally, she mentioned that the opinions and perspectives of these top athletes regarding women's sports matter. She said (via Up & Adams Show With Kay Adams, 8:59 onwards):

"I think women's sports a lot of times gets a lot of hate and doubters and naysayers say it's not a good game to watch but what's the funny thing is that the best athletes in the world, the best football players in the world, the best rugby players in the world in men's, they have a respect for what we do and truly enjoy watching what we do. Those are the people that their opinions actually matter."

Several top athletes such as British rugby players Dan Cole and Ben Youngs have supported Ilona Maher in hitting back at the doubters and haters of women's sports.