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Ilona Maher is among the most popular rugby players, if not athletes, on the planet, and within her fan club happens to be someone who blazed a trail before her. Ruby Tui, a two-time Olympic medalist and Women’s Rugby World Cup winner with New Zealand, has been watching closely as her American counterpart has taken rugby by storm, amassing legions of followers on social media. A little-known entity this time last year, Maher’s popularity soared at the Paris Olympics, where she won bronze with Team USA.
Her larger-than-life persona quickly made her the most followed rugby player on the internet, earning appearances on “Dancing With the Stars” and the cover of Sports Illustrated’s “Swimsuit Edition.” For Tui, who spent time in the United States playing in the Premier Rugby Sevens competition, such success hasn’t happened by chance. Rather, it’s a consequence of the time that Maher invests on and off the rugby field.
“People think she was just random or an accident,” Tui tells CNN Sports ’ Amanda Davies. “Nah, that woman puts work into her rugby, that woman puts work into her branding. That whole USA team really does.
“I guess that’s why I chose to have my sabbatical in the US. I was like, ‘How do these guys know so much about just the entertainment world?’ They’re just world leaders at entertaining, and that’s what sport is at the end of the day. “I’m such a fan of her.
I’m a fan of anyone who’s willing to put the work in and step up for a cause that they truly believe in, that aligns with their values. And she’s always been a vibe.” In four months, Maher and Tui could both be appearing on their sport’s biggest stage at the Women’s Rugby World Cup in England – Tui as a reigning champion with New Zealand and Maher as a first-timer with the US.
The latter only recently switched from seven to 15-a-side rugby and spent the first part of this year with English team Bristol Bears Women, drawing a club record crowd on her first home appearance. The World Cup is now the next goal in the 28-year-old’s burgeoning career. “I can’t wait for Ilona Maher to come over to the 15s game on a World Cup stage and see what kind of storm she can start,” says Tui.
“Like, let’s go – I’m keen for all of it. I think more champions, more characters for the game is nothing but good.” Like Maher, Tui also made her name in rugby sevens, winning a silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics before upgrading to gold in Tokyo five years later.
And like Maher, she too has achieved internet stardom, delivering an iconic speech after the 2022 World Cup final and leading the 45,000-strong Auckland crowd in song. Soon after, Tui would give her winner’s medal to a young fan who had recently recovered from leukemia and was dreaming of playing for New Zealand. That offered just a brief snapshot into the warmth and generosity of an athlete who constantly inspires, though Tui’s bubbly, eccentric exterior belies her challenging and often traumatic journey to the top of international rugby.
Her father was an alcoholic, while her mother, separately, was in an abusive relationship, eventually leading Tui to find a home at a women’s refuge . Not afraid to speak about her difficult childhood, Tui can empathize with others going through what she calls “dark, dark times.” With that in mind, she is supporting a new campaign by Bupa and New Zealand Rugby – “Human After All: The Alternative Team Photo” – which is about normalizing health conversations worldwide.
“All I can say is, the journeys you get through and the mountains you climb transform into your purpose and your reason for giving back,” says Tui. “I’ve just seen nothing but good things come from being vulnerable, being open to it. I think that’s why this campaign is so important because we are seen as these physically superior rugby machines, but the truth is, we’re human as well.
” Today, Tui is grateful for the way that sport changed the course of her life. She is currently focused on playing for Chiefs Manawa in Super Rugby Aupiki – the top-flight of women’s rugby union in New Zealand – and leads the competition’s try-scoring charts with five. Beyond that, she might be helping the Black Ferns to defend their Women’s World Cup title in England later this year.
Tui’s spot on the team is not guaranteed, but even the mention of inspiring her country to a third-consecutive World Cup crown gets her in a feverish state of anticipation. “That sounds juicy when you say it like that,” says Tui. “That sounds like some sort of heavenly dish you get once in your life kind of thing.
” It would be a full-circle moment of sorts for the explosive winger, who remembers watching on TV in 2010 as New Zealand won a fourth-straight World Cup against England at Twickenham, where this year’s final will also be held. “Just imprinted in my brain was the huge accomplishment of the Black Ferns, and how super power the Black Ferns were,” says Tui. “And I just remember thinking, ‘Why are these guys not at sold-out stadiums? Why doesn’t every young girl want to be in this team? This team’s amazing.
’” To win again this year, New Zealand will have to overcome a dominant and near-unstoppable England team, which hasn’t lost since that World Cup final defeat against New Zealand three years ago. Tui acknowledges that the Red Roses are “well out in front” of their rivals at the moment and “setting the benchmark” in the women’s game. But she is also hopeful that an upset at this year’s tournament could earn the Black Ferns another visit to the British royal family at Buckingham Palace.
The team’s last visit ahead of a game against England six months ago took a comical turn when some of the players shirked royal protocol and hugged King Charles, who jokingly said that he had been “flattened by the scrum.” “That was sensational, that was just so out of the blue,” Tui says of meeting Charles, adding that she would love to see him embrace this year’s tournament, especially with the final being held just a few miles west of Buckingham Palace. “I hope he gets amongst it,” she says.
“He’s got a really big backyard, he could probably set up a big screen or something, invite all his royal mates around and have a real good time with it, if they don’t want to come to the games.” Two visits to the king’s residence in the space of a year would be a sure sign that people are starting to sit up and take notice of the Black Ferns – just as Tui always dreamed they would..
