\n<\/p>\n
On the pitch, it will be a learning curve for Maher. She last played 15-a-side rugby in 2021, having concentrated on sevens which, with Olympic status, is better funded in the United States.<\/p>\n
But some of her team-mates will be learning from her too.<\/p>\n
Maher, who has a master’s degree in business, realised early on in her rugby career that the bottom line of her bank account was going to be closely linked to her social media follower count.<\/p>\n
“I have had to do it in a different way,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Rugby is my thing, but I have had to create this whole other thing around me.<\/p>\n
“Being on the pitch is amazing, but as a female athlete, as a female rugby player, I have to do 10 times as much off the field.<\/p>\n
“I can’t just play the sport I love. I’m not going to make millions playing rugby, I’m not even going to make six figures playing rugby – that’s the sad truth.<\/p>\n
“I’m not going to be like a men’s player – I can’t put all my focus here. I have to put it into everything else as well and somehow that’s translated into being the biggest star in rugby because of my personality.”<\/p>\n
Rugby has traditionally shied away from such individualism, valuing the team above memes.<\/p>\n
But Maher says it can’t afford not to get involved in the self-promotional social media hustle.<\/p>\n
“I think rugby is, in many ways, stuck in the old ways – on the field you have just got to work and that’s where it stops,” she added.<\/p>\n
“But we have to grow as the world changes and as society changes. We want to get more players into the game – where are those players? They’re on TikTok. They’re scrolling the apps, they’re watching my little videos and going ‘oh, look at this girl play rugby’.”<\/p>\n
When this girl actually does play rugby for Bristol is not yet decided.<\/p>\n
She will be at Bristol’s match against Exeter this weekend.<\/p>\n
The clash with last season’s champions Gloucester-Hartpury on 5 January has been shifted from 200-seater Shaftesbury Park to 27,000-capacity Ashton Gate due to “unprecedented demand”, even though Maher is quick to stress she is unlikely to be ready to make her debut then.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n