Olympic rugby star Ilona Maher made her Bristol Bears debut on Sunday and brought in a record number of fans. A record 9,420 fans were in attendance to watch Maher make her Premiership Women's Rugby league debut against defending champion Gloucester-Hartpury.

With over eight million social media followers and a Reese Witherspoon production following her, Maher is attracting a global audience

After spending over an hour and a half signing autographs and posing for selfies with fans inside Ashton Gate after her Bristol Bears debut, Ilona Maher was whisked upstairs for a post-match press conference.

U.S. rugby star Ilona Maher has made her debut for the Bristol Bears women’s team in front of a record home crowd of 9,240.

U.S. Olympic bronze medallist Ilona Maher debuted for Bristol Bears in a loss to Gloucester-Hartpury, drawing a record crowd to Ashton Gate stadium. Known for her massive social media following, Maher's popularity surged post-Olympics.

Ilona Maher's mission to grow rugby is far from done, and while she admits she loves being a "superstar" of the game, the United States star said the sport desperately needs to showcase more athletes to help take rugby union to new fans and audiences.

Ticket sales have broken a record ahead of U.S. rugby star Ilona Maher making her debut for the Bristol Bears women’s team.

U.S. Olympic bronze medallist Ilona Maher made her debut for Premiership Women's Rugby side Bristol Bears in a 40-17 loss to Gloucester-Hartpury on Sunday, with a record crowd of 9,240 in attendance at Ashton Gate stadium.

U.S. rugby star Ilona Maher made her debut for the Bristol Bears women's team in front of a record home crowd of 9,240 fans on Sunday. But Maher, "the most followed rugby player on the planet,” could not prevent Bristol from losing 40-17 to defending champion Gloucester-Hartpury in a Premiership Women’s Rugby match.