On Friday, 14th February this year, five young women spent their Valentine’s Day evening together. Rather than sharing some small plates and a few vodka tonics at their local Brixton Market - their usual order of service for a night out - they headed west on a train to Twickenham. There, they had a pint in a local pub before walking down the A316 to The Stoop, the rugby stadium of the Harlequins, scanning their tickets, grabbing some chips and taking their seats.
All five of them had decided to skip Valentine's Day with their partners and instead watch their first-ever game of women’s rugby. For one of them, it was their first-ever game of rugby, period. These five women spent their Valentine’s Day evening in the cold and dark of a drafty sports ground watching some of the best female rugby players in the world for one reason and one reason only - Ilona Maher.
Sure, five women choosing to watch a game of women’s rugby in isolation isn't that big a deal. But consider the bigger picture, and it symbolises something seismic. They are five among thousands - if not millions - of women around the globe who are paid-up, card-carrying members of the Ilona Maher fan club, a movement that's completely revolutionising rugby.
That's where the inspiration for the Marie Claire UK x Rugby World Ilona Maher cover came from, a celebration of the sportswoman and all that she's doing to encourage young girls into sport, reshape outdated narratives, and spread joy. The Rugby World print issue is on newsstands, and the full digital issue is live on the Marie Claire UK site, now.
For more about Maher's stratospheric shake-up of the sport, plus the five sportswomen I reckon you should have on your radars for 2025, keep scrolling.
Ilona Maher is leading the rugby revolution - 5 other game-changing female athletes to watch this year
Things haven't been looking great for rugby in recent years. Recent stats suggest that in the UK, viewership, engagement and participation in the sport are in a sustained decline.
Among the 16 to 34 year old cohort, rugby doesn't even rank in their top 20 sports, long overtaken by the likes of Formula 1 and climbing. English rugby has seen three professional clubs disappear due to financial administration in the past five years, while Welsh and Scottish rugby have also verged on bankruptcy. Concerns over concussion and brain injuries have seen former players taking the sport to court and parents questioning its place in schools. Meanwhile, the general reputation of rugby in England as an elitist niche sport for public school boys like Chuggsy from Love Island hasn't entirely shifted. Case in point: The Men’s Six Nations were just on and I’d hazard a guess that it only troubled your timeline with memes of middle-aged men wearing bootcut jeans and brown slip-on loafers.
Beyond that, women’s rugby in the UK is a niche within the niche, and a sport that, despite England being historically very successful at, has barely even troubled a side column of a broadsheet sports page or glossy magazine.
But the Ilona Maher Effect is changing all of this. Suddenly, women’s rugby is having its moment. It’s on the timeline. People are taking notice of the sport. And it's impact is far wider reaching than mere views on TikTok.
Sports teams don't simply change stadiums because of demand - it's not a thing. Yet Maher made it happen for her very first Bristol Bears game back in January. While the match was scheduled to be at their usual Shaftesbury Park ground (capacity: 2,000), demand for tickets was so high that they moved the fixture to Ashton Gate, with an eventual record-breaking crowd attendance of 9,240 people.
Data from the game showed that 65% of fans were at their first-ever game of women’s rugby. Some travelled from as far as Scotland and Florida. And subsequent attendance records were also set at Bristol’s away games against Harlequins and Trailfinders. Social followers are up for both the rugby clubs and players alike.
Maher is emblematic of your ultimate role model. Someone who embraces her body, proves that femininity and physicality are not mutually exclusive and teaches you that there's a place for everyone to be their confident, brilliant best. Maher is changing what it means to be a sports fan in real time and encouraging millions of people to discover the joys of rugby.
Take this article as an example. I'm the editor of Rugby World writing my first ever article for Marie Claire UK. MC UK has long championed strength, empowerment, and women in sport, and rugby, at its very core, is a sport for people from all walks of life and an opportunity to feel your most powerful through movement, strength and skill.
Maher is the spark that's lit the flame - and it'll only continue to burn this year as the Women’s Rugby World Cup kicks off this summer. The final will be in September and will see 82,00 eager fans head to Twickenham for the match. England are about as nailed on to win it as a Beyonce shoutout in a Grammy's acceptance speech. You saw how the face of women's football transformed after their 2022 Euros win, with Mary Earps, Millie Bright and Sam Kerr becoming household names overnight. In five months time, you're all going to be talking about rugby players Ellie Kildunne, Ruby Tui and Madi Levi in the same way.
For more women in sport to have on your radar this year - keep scrolling.
5 sportswomen to watch in 2025 and beyond
1. Ellie Kildunne, England rugby player
Instagram: @elliekildunne
Ellie Kildunne is the current World Rugby 15s Player of the Year, the biggest accolade an individual can get in the sport. She's also one of the most exciting players on the pitch right now, already the poster girl of the Women’s World Cup that's set to be held in England this summer.
But she's got loads going on off the pitch, too, co-hosting the Spotify Original Podcast Rugby Rodeo with teammate and friend Jess Breach and founding the creative collective 50/22 Studios. Bottom line? Kildunne is proof that rugby can be properly cool.
2. Caitlin Clark, American basketball player
Instagram: @caitlinclark22
Ilona Maher isn't the only woman to have revolutionised a sport in recent years. Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark has had a similar impact in women’s basketball, creating history every step of the way.
Called the “GOAT of TV Ratings” by The Wall Street Journal, she was drawing viewing figures of 18.9 million for women’s college basketball games, is responsible for the highest-ever attendance for a regular-season WNBA game and is estimated to have increased the state of Iowa’s GDP by $50million generating ¢82.5m in consumer spending. Need more convincing? Forbes has called her the “Taylor Swift of basketball."
3. Ruby Tui, New Zealand Black Ferns rugby player
Instagram: @rubytui
Recognise Ruby Tui? It'll probably be from when she went viral for saying “Sup, G” to King Charles III. Or from when she spoke frankly with actress Miriam Margolyes about representation and culture in New Zealand.
Tui is one of those people who speaks with beautiful honesty and refreshing sincerity - on her complex relationship with rugby, her difficult upbringing, her own sexuality, and more. She's become one of the most respected and inspirational personalities in both the rugby world and New Zealand. Trust me - it’s not long before more people also start taking notice.
4. Demi Vollering, Dutch cyclist
Instagram: @demivollering
Cycling has long been scorched earth for American sportswear giant Nike. It had a long-time association (and then dissociation) with Tour de France winner, film star and confessed doper Lance Armstrong, which resulted in cycling being a sport that it's steered clear of for the best part of fifteen years. That was until Dutch cyclist Demi Vollering came along.
In pursuit of her lifelong dream to be a professional bike rider, she's become the best female cyclist in the world and also utilises her position to advocate for the power outdoor lifestyles can have in improving both your mental and physical health. Nike not only signed Vollering as an athlete but went as far as to sign her professional team, FDJ-Suez, in the brand’s first-ever full team partnership in cycling.
5. Sadia Kabeya, England rugby player
Instagram: @sadiakabeya
Londoner Sadia Kabeya is one of the most destructive women’s rugby players in the world right now - and is also proving to be one of the most inspiring. The England Red Rose international player has been using her platform to inspire the next generation of young black rugby players in the UK.
She also has a podcast, For The Love of Rugby, where she has open and important conversations around black representation in the sport with co-hosts Shaunagh Brown and Maud Muir, and has been a regular columnist for the BBC. Not forgetting her Gilbert collaboration, where she designed a whole line of new headwear specifically tailored to help protect afro and curly hair.
