Maher to make Bristol Bears debut from bench

New Bristol Bears signing Ilona Maher is to marque her debut from the seat connected Sunday successful their Premiership Women's Rugby lucifer against Gloucester-Hartpury.

The American inferior backmost confirmed she was joining the nine connected a three-month woody past month.

Maher, 28, is the astir followed rugby national subordinate successful the satellite connected societal media, with 4.5 cardinal Instagram followers and 3.2 cardinal connected TikTok.

The clash with the reigning PWR champions has been moved to Ashton Gate, from Bristol Bears women's accustomed ground, Shaftesbury Park, due to the fact that of the request for tickets, with astir 8,000 sold arsenic of Friday morning.

Maher, who tin play astatine centre oregon connected the wing, won Olympic bronze with the US rugby sevens squad astatine the Games successful Paris past summertime and the determination to Bristol sees her instrumentality to 15-a-side for the archetypal clip since 2021.

Her inclusion is 1 of 4 changes caput manager Dave Ward has made to the 23-player matchday squad, with England's Hollie Cunningham recalled successful the second-row and Wales' Ffion Lewis to marque her archetypal commencement astatine scrum-half.

Meg Varley joins Maher among the replacements, having recovered from a semipermanent ft injury.

Ward said the circular 12 crippled "means something".

He told BBC Radio Bristol: "Lana Skeldon [hooker] came up to maine yesterday and she said 'Dave are you nervous?' I said, 'I'm excited Lana due to the fact that this is it'.

"We've got, I think, 7-8,000 radical connected Sunday, it's a re-run of the final, this crippled means something, there's points connected the line, there's radical looking for planetary call-ups for the Six Nations.

"This is it, wherefore we get retired of furniture successful the greeting and enactment the agelong hours."

Bristol spell into the lucifer 5th successful the league pursuing a 33-24 decision by Saracens earlier Christmas.

They are 7 points down their opponents Gloucester-Hartpury successful 3rd and 9 down leaders Harlequins, though they person a crippled successful manus connected 3 of the sides supra them.

This weekend's crippled begins a tally of six consecutive weeks of games to reason the regular season.

"These games against the truthful called apical 4 - including Quins now, and we're not successful that - are immense and we've got to effort and instrumentality points disconnected them" Ward added.

"It is big. It's not rather do-or-die clip but it's getting beauteous close."