Friends, rivals and dance partners
In the game against England, Maher will line up against some of the great friends she made while on a short-term contract with Bristol Bears in early 2025.
Maher headed to the UK on a three-month contract in January for a number of reasons, not least to help prepare for the World Cup.
Transitioning to the 15s form of the game after her nation’s heroics in sevens in Paris, plus the opportunity to develop in a new environment, were two key factors. In the Bristol Bears, a Premiership Women’s Rugby team in southwest England, Maher also found a kindred club whose vision to grow the sport mirrored her own.
A mutually beneficial arrangement, the idea to elevate the sport and inspire more players and fans had an immediate impact.
In the first match of Maher’s tenure, against Gloucester-Hartpury, the game was moved from Shaftesbury Park to the bigger stadium at Ashton Gate to cope with the increased demand in ticket sales.
A new league record for a regular season game of 9,240 was the result. The league’s YouTube following also more than doubled after her arrival.
Players on the team impacted by Maher’s arrival include England’s Sarah Bern, an opposing player to Maher on Friday.
The prop with 66 caps for England engaged in her new team-mate’s social media shenanigans, with the pair even featuring in a Bristol Bears video captioned, ‘Everyone’s favourite rugby besties 🥰’, with the footage of the pair of them accompanied by Taylor Swift’s Love Story.
Before Maher’s arrival, Bern told the BBC’s The LGBT Sport Podcast, she had struggled with anxiety around body image.
“I was always bigger as a young girl, and I never felt like I was good enough or pretty enough or any of those things. I feel like a lot of young girls feel that,” said Bern, who is heading to her third World Cup.
“I was really anxious about a lot of things, and social media, I was like ‘no one really wants to see what I’m doing’.”
Cue Maher’s arrival, friendship, and a change of heart from the Brit.
“Now I really love it and I just relish it and I actually think it’s really helped me to be less anxious and just be myself.”