The Women's Rugby World Cup kicks off this evening, and England's Red Roses are among the favourites to win.
With superstar players including Ellie Kildunne, Tatyana Heard, and Zoe Alcroft all set to take to the pitch, they're gunning to steal the trophy.
They're a team to be reckoned with - they've won 57 of their past 58 games and the past seven Six Nations titles, but don't seem to be having much luck when it comes to the World Cup. While they've been in the previous six finals, they only scooped the victory once in 2014.
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.
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 it, has barely even troubled a side column of a broadsheet sports page or glossy magazine.
But the Ilona Maher Effect has changed all of this. Suddenly, women’s rugby is having its moment. It’s on the timeline. People are taking notice of the sport. And its impact is far wider-reaching than mere views on TikTok.
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 as the Women’s Rugby World Cup kicks off tonight. In my opinion, England is about as nailed on to win it as a Beyonce shoutout in a Grammy's acceptance speech - but watch this space.
For more women in sport to have on your radar this year - keep scrolling. And good luck to the Red Roses tonight and for the rest of the tournament, from all of us here at MC UK.
Ilona Maher is leading the rugby revolution - 6 other game-changing female athletes to watch this year
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. Tatyana Heard, England Rugby player
Instagram: @tatyanaheard
An Italian-born English Rugby player who plays for Gloucester-Hartpury in the PWR, Tatyana Heard was one of the faces of fashion brand Aligne's latest campaign.
She also recently starred in our My Life In franchise, opening up about her standout career successes, setbacks, and hopes for the upcoming Rugby World Cup (spoiler alert: she's optimistic).
A talented player who's overcome adversity and nurtured some serious resilience in the process, she's definitely one to watch.
3. 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."
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
