Wallaroos set to face rugby superstar Ilona Maher in Pacific Four clash

There are not many times when, in Australia, the Australian national team might not be the biggest drawcard on show.

And yet this weekend, as the Wallaroos welcome the USA to Canberra for their Pacific Four clash, there will likely be a significant number of people in the stands there to watch one player — and she is not Australian.

"I've been talking to my friends about this," Wallaroos backrower Tabua Tuinakauvadra told a press conference in Canberra on Thursday.

"This is the first game they're coming to watch me play rugby, but they're coming to watch Ilona first."

Tabua Tuinakauvadra says friends who will watch her play for the first time will be there for Ilona Maher. (Getty Images: World Rugby/Johan Rynners)

Ilona is American star Ilona Maher, and it is not necessarily a surprise that the casual fan wants to see her play.

With 4.9 million Instagram followers, Maher has the highest social media following of any active rugby player.

That's right: more than the next-most-popular French superstar Antoine Dupont (1.2 million) and trailblazing South African skipper Siya Kolisi (1.4 million) combined.

To put it into even more perspective, you could add the England rugby team (1.5 million) and the Wallabies' (493,000) Instagram followers to that tally and still not have as many as the 28-year-old from Vermont.

"It's that visibility," Tuinakauvadra said.

"She's got such a great reach, she's such a personality off the field.

"It's what's drawn a lot of people to the game and lots of people have gotten into the game because of her, and lots of people will come and watch because of her.

"The more people we can reach, the more people we can inspire is all better for the game."

It is not just for her rugby that Maher has found her following.

She competed on Dancing with the Stars and became the first woman to lift her partner during a dance — living by the mantra she tells to her 3.5 million followers on TikTok: Beast. Beauty. Brains.

Ilona Maher finished as a runner-up on Dancing with the Stars. (Getty Images: Disney/Eric McCandless)

That was also the headline of the piece when she appeared in Sports Illustrated in 2024.

A big part of Maher's message is that it is important to be comfortable in your own skin.

On the House of Maher podcast she does with her sisters Olivia and Adrianna she has said this is why she wears lipstick in games.

"I've always just found that, being put in that box of being a rugby player, you have to be big and masculine … I've never liked that I was told to be this certain way when I played sport," Maher said.

"It's us taking back our own narrative and saying, like, an 'f you' to those who think that we have to leave our beauty and femininity at the door when we play this tough sport."

After winning bronze with the USA in Paris — at the expense of the Australian team — Maher has made the switch to the 15s game.

Ilona Maher will have fond memories of playing the Aussies in sevens. (Getty Images: ISI Photos/Alex Ho)

As part of that, she completed a short stint with Bristol in the UK, proving so popular that games needed to be moved to Ashton Gate stadium to accommodate the record crowds that flocked to see her.

"I love being a superstar," Maher told The Guardian earlier this year, following her Bristol stint.

"People call me the superstar of rugby but that's not enough for the sport. We can't just have one superstar."

The rugby public may have anointed her as the queen of women's rugby, but that is translating to big crowds too, with women in particular attending matches.

"In men's sports, you have a lot of male fans, especially in rugby. It's a boys' club. You have a lot of old men going to their team's game," she said in Bristol.

"Can we now get more women buying our jerseys and coming to our games? Women have power, women have influence and they're a good fanbase to have."

Ilona Maher is attracting new fans to the sport. (Getty Images: PA Images/Zac Goodwin)

Playing at outside centre last week against Canada, a match the USA lost 14-26, Maher will line up again in Canberra and have another chance to help grow the game with a big crowd in attendance.

ABC Elite Athletes in Australian Women's Sport Survey: We want to hear from you Photo shows A stylised graphic with three silhouettes of unidentified a female footballer, tennis player, basketballer ABC Sport and Deakin University have partnered to produce the first ABC Elite Athletes in Australian Women's Sport Survey.

Tuinakauvadra said Maher's presence was key and that by having women athletes show their personalities to a wider audience, the sport could only grow.

"The more we can get ourselves out there and show that we're humans first and athletes second, it's something that definitely appeals," Tuinakauvadra said.

"Not only to people coming up but people that just flick on the TV and the rugby will be on.

"If you can recognise that we are individuals as well, it's something that will definitely pull more people into watching and supporting us.

"I think it's such an exciting time to be an athlete and a woman playing sport right now."

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