WATCH: Ilona Maher hilariously takes over bar to encourage customers to watch upcoming edition of Women's Six Nations Rugby

The Olympic bronze medalist, rugby player Ilona Maher, has recently encouraged the patrons at a restaurant to watch Guinness Women's Six Nations Rugby. Through her playful approach, the iconic athlete was sharing the message of empowering women’s sports.

Maher has achieved incredible success both on and off the field. She is an advocate for body positivity and promoting female sports. In her most recent Instagram reel, she was seen promoting the Women's Six Nations Championship 2025. The prominent centre of the USA Eagles captioned it:

“I’m making it everyone’s business @womenssixnations”

The international women’s rugby championship is played by six European women's national teams, including England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. Ilona Maher joined the Premiership Women's Rugby League in England in December 2024 on a three-month contract.

Through seven matches, Maher scored seven tries and assisted her team, the Bristol Bears, to reach the play-off semi-final, which was played at Kingsholm against Gloucester-Hartpury. However, the Bears faced defeat with a score of 20-36.

Her debut home game in the Premiership Women's Rugby League against Gloucester-Hartpury achieved a record crowd of 9,240 spectators. Due to the surge in the number of attendees, the venue had to be shifted from Shaftesbury Park to Ashton Gate.

Maher recently signed a multi-year partnership deal with iconic German athletic brand Adidas. She will also be the face of the new women’s rugby boot, which will be launched later this year.

---

Ilona Maher reflects on the heartwarming reception she received from the Bristol Bears

Ilona Maher at the Bristol Bears v Gloucester-Hartpury - Allianz Premiership Women's Rugby - Source: Getty

Ilona Maher is an emerging rugby player and earned three National Intercollegiate Rugby Association championships during her collegiate years. She achieved success with the Bristol Bears and during her appearance in “For The Love Of Rugby” podcast in January 2025, Maher expressed the warm welcome she received from her current team. She said [25:15 onwards]:

“I'm coming in for three months so I did feel like out of respect it was my right to tiptoe and to find my place, but they’ve been the most welcoming to me and I can imagine how tough it is as somebody who just comes in and then the whole social media is about me; all the posts for the games is me.”

She continued:

“And then them, it's like I'm not even playing that game so it's been like a interesting balance because I could understand how that would be annoying if I was a player and some girl just comes in and like you know takes my spot but they've all been so welcoming.”

Maher is the most followed rugby player on social media; she has 4.9 million followers on Instagram. Apart from Adidas, Maher has deals with L'Oréal, New Era, Paula's Choice and Secret.