Maher to make Bristol Bears debut from bench

Ilona Maher was presented to the Bristol Bears fans at half-time during the men's Champions Cup clash with Leinster last month

New Bristol Bears signing Ilona Maher is to make her debut from the bench on Sunday in their Premiership Women's Rugby match against Gloucester-Hartpury.

The American utility back confirmed she was joining the club on a three-month deal last month.

Maher, 28, is the most followed rugby union player in the world on social media, with 4.5 million Instagram followers and 3.2 million on TikTok.

The clash with the reigning PWR champions has been moved to Ashton Gate, from Bristol Bears women's usual ground, Shaftesbury Park, because of the demand for tickets, with almost 8,000 sold as of Friday morning.

Maher, who can play at centre or on the wing, won Olympic bronze with the US rugby sevens team at the Games in Paris last summer and the move to Bristol sees her return to 15-a-side for the first time since 2021.

Her inclusion is one of four changes head coach Dave Ward has made to the 23-player matchday squad, with England's Hollie Cunningham recalled in the second-row and Wales' Ffion Lewis to make her first start at scrum-half.

Meg Varley joins Maher among the replacements, having recovered from a long-term foot injury.

Ward said the round 12 game "means something".

He told BBC Radio Bristol: "Lana Skeldon [hooker] came up to me yesterday and she said 'Dave are you nervous?' I said, 'I'm excited Lana because this is it'.

"We've got, I think, 7-8,000 people on Sunday, it's a re-run of the final, this game means something, there's points on the line, there's people looking for international call-ups for the Six Nations.

"This is it, why we get out of bed in the morning and work the long hours."

Bristol go into the match fifth in the league following a 33-24 defeat by Saracens before Christmas.

They are seven points behind their opponents Gloucester-Hartpury in third and nine behind leaders Harlequins, although they have a game in hand on three of the sides above them.

This weekend's game begins a run of six consecutive weeks of games to conclude the regular season.

"These games against the so called top four - including Quins now, and we're not in that - are huge and we've got to try and take points off them" Ward added.

"It is big. It's not quite do-or-die time but it's getting pretty close."