Why US rugby star Ilona Maher is unafraid to take up space

Black Ferns v USA

Kick-off: 3:35pm Saturday 24 May

North Harbour Stadium, Albany

Live blog coverage on RNZ Sport

Before each game on the World Rugby Sevens circuit, the same choreographed pre-match routine is rolled out.

A key component of the pomp and pageantry is what is known to those in the business as "the tunnel shot".

It's when the two teams line up side by side at the end of the tunnel and do their best to ignore one another as they stare out at the field before them with grim-faced determination. Then, when the signal is given, the players charge out onto the pitch to a fate unknown.

Sports broadcaster Rikki Swannell still remembers the day when world rugby's leading light first appeared at the end of the tunnel.

It was the Paris round of 2018-19 season, and a young player by the name of Ilona Maher was making her debut for the US women's team.

"I just remember seeing this big, strong woman... she was built like a brick shithouse basically - I don't think she'd mind me saying that - and she had this bright red lipstick on. We were all just like 'woah who is this woman?'"

What Swannell, the indefatigable voice of sevens rugby, now knows is the way Maher chose to present herself to the world is no accident.

"That whole beast, beauty, brains tagline - that's been her mantra from day one," Swannell said.

"Ilona's not the captain of the team, she's filled in here and there, but she's never been the fulltime captain, but she's always the one to stand at the front and run out first onto the field. That's because, and I think this is relatively common knowledge, she just asked if it would be ok if she went out first and the others were happy to let her do it."

Since her debut in Paris - the city where she would six years later become the breakout star of the US Olympic team - Maher has remained unafraid to take up space.

An intimidating figure on the field, the 28-year-old is equally known for her presence off the field.

With more than eight million combined followers on Instagram and TikTok, Maher has become not only rugby's most followed player, but one of the most influential figures in women's sport. A power athlete deploying her image to inspire future generations.

Her impressive social media following has seen Maher take her unique brand of body positivity activism and irreverent humour mainstream.

She's graced the cover of Sports Illustrated's swimsuit edition, appeared on late night talk shows, competed on Dancing with the Stars in the US, and signed brand endorsement deals with L'Oreal and Adidas.

This week, the Ilona Maher juggernaut careened into Auckland ahead of her side's clash with the Black Ferns in the Pacific Four series.

Since last year's Olympics, where the US women's team claimed a historic bronze medal, Maher has made the switch to the XVs game, with an eye on making the USA Eagles team for the World Cup in August.

And so on Thursday, on a bluebird autumn day in the city, Maher was taking up space at the end of a wharf at the end of the world doing what she does best - spruiking women's rugby and what the game has done for her.

Maher fronted local media alongside Black Ferns star Portia Woodman-Wickliffe - widely regarded as the best women's player in the game - as part of a joint media session ahead of Saturday's match at North Harbour Stadium.

But it was clear most of the crowd assembled were there for one person.

"I've not seen a crowd like this at a rugby media stand-up for a long time," observed one seasoned rugby journo.

You could sense the hackles rise among the sports scribes in attendance when a pair of high profile radio hosts kicked the proceedings by challenging Maher and Woodman-Wickliffe to an arm wrestle, and took bets among themselves over who would win.

The pair gamely played along, turning what could have been a cringey gag into social media gold.

After Woodman-Wickliffe was the declared the winner of the mock arm wrestle, she was handed the $20.

"I don't think that's how betting works," joked Maher.

"I wouldn't know. We don't bet around here because we're pro athletes."

But it was after the arm wrestle that Maher really got stuck into her work. The questions followed rapidfire, ranging from eccentric to earnest - for each the affable star had a pitch perfect answer.

Asked whether given her profile she felt pressure to perform on the field, Maher responded: "Being female athletes, we need something for the fans to believe in and want to keep buying tickets for, so it's our job to consistently put out something that people are going to buy a ticket and come and watch. I think for women's rugby to flourish we need that.

"It's been my purpose to try to get people to tune into the games and to buy tickets.

"We know the power of rugby and how much it has changed our lives and how much it can change other girls' lives."

Swannell, who has watched in awe of Maher's trajectory from having a small niche following to being a global superstar, said through it all, the blockbusting player had remained steadfast to her message.

"It's steadily built, steadily built, and then it got to Paris and beyond, where it has just exploded into something I've never seen before in rugby," Swannell said.

"But she's built it all herself. She's been open about the body image issues she had when she was younger, but rugby has taught her that her size and her power is an asset, and so she promotes this message of 'yes I am big, yes I have massive shoulders, but look at what my big, strong body can do'," Swannell said.

Maher's message of female empowerment extended beyond body positivity.

In an interview with CNN earlier this year, the rugby megastar was asked how she deals with imposter syndrome - a malady that often afflicts successful women.

Maher initially appeared puzzled by the question.

"I don't have that. I don't know what that is? What it's where you feel like you don't deserve it?" she asks.

"Yeah," the interviewer responds.

"Nope, I don't think I have that. I feel like I deserve what I've gotten… people are told sometimes that they should have that imposter syndrome. But it's okay to be proud of what you've done, it's okay to believe you deserve something because you've put in the work for it."

As tends to be standard for anything Maher touches, the clip quickly went viral, garnering millions of views and reposts.

To many women, there was something about Maher's unabashed pride in her achievements that felt revolutionary.

"Ilona Maher admitting she doesn't experience imposter syndrome has completely altered my brain chemistry," one poster commented.

It's little wonder, given her unique ability to connect with a generation of women, that the sport's leaders are clambering over one another to hitch themselves to the Maher juggernaut.

"You hear it ad nauseum wherever she goes, the various people wanting to attach themselves to Ilona or 'how can we get Ilona to promote XYZ'. And to me, the game should be asking itself how can we create more Ilonas with their own unique message and their own profile," Swannell said.

But the idea of promoting individual stars of the sport is almost an antithesis of the "NZ Rugby way".

Swannell believed the sport here was being held back by a longstanding ethos that no one person was bigger than the game.

"Rugby in general has never been about the individuals, it's all about the team, the jersey, all that kind of stuff. But every fan survey will tell you that young people in particular are following individuals and it's star power that's taking over sport.

"How many people started following Inter Miami because of Lionel Messi, are they day one Inter Miami fans? Like, please.

"I think Ilona is really demonstrating how that star power can grow the sport."

Portia Woodman-Wickliffe agreed the key to growing the women's game laid in the players showcasing the personalities of the players.

"We've seen the impact of what social media and big characters can do to draw people in, and when they finally see how amazing the teams are, they're going to be drawn in even more.

"If we can create more stories around every team, to understand the characters, their stories, then more people will relate to it and they will want to see more," the newly un-retired international said.

"Yes, we need more, I'm tired," Maher chimed in.

There is space for all in Maher's world.

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