{"id":942158,"date":"2026-10-27T01:20:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T01:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/942158\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T01:20:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T01:20:15","slug":"ilona-mahers-rugby-return-imminent-as-eagles-sevens-name-preseason-squad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/942158\/","title":{"rendered":"Ilona Maher&#8217;s rugby return imminent as Eagles Sevens name preseason squad"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>  Published: 3 hours ago | 26 October 2026 18:12 EDT  <\/p>\n<p>womens<\/p>\n<p>sevens-women<\/p>\n<p>    U.S. Olympian Ilona Maher poses for a photo at the USA House at Paris 2024 on July 31, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Joe Scarnici\/Getty Images for USOPC) <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"expand\" src=\"https:\/\/eu-cdn.rugbypass.com\/images\/common-svg\/select-arrow.svg\" height=\"6\" width=\"11\"\/>      <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rugbypass.com%2F\" onclick=\"GATracking.sendDataLayerEvent(&#039;preferredsourcegoogle&#039;);\" aria-label=\"Google Prefered Source\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1793064015_133_google_preferred_source_badge_light.png\" alt=\"Google Prefered Source\" width=\"141\" height=\"44\" class=\"google-source\"\/> <\/a>     <\/p>\n<p>Ilona Maher\u2019s return to rugby is just around the corner after she was named for a preseason training tour of New Zealand.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/teams\/usa-women\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">USA<\/a> Women\u2019s Eagles Sevens head coach Emilie Bydwell included Maher in the 15-player squad that will compete at an invitational tournament in Mount Maunganui this weekend.<\/p>\n<p>The most-followed rugby player on social has not been seen on the pitch since the USA Women\u2019s Eagles final pool game of Women\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/rugby-world-cup\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rugby World Cup<\/a> 2025 against Samoa.<\/p>\n<p>Maher was a core part of the team that claimed a bronze medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, and is sure to have an eye on LA28.<\/p>\n<p>This weekend the Eagles will come up against Australia, Japan, France, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/teams\/fiji-women\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Fiji<\/a> and a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rugbypass.com\/teams\/new-zealand-women\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New Zealand<\/a> Development team.<\/p>\n<p>Emilie Bydwell, USA Women\u2019s Eagles Sevens head coach, said: \u201cWe\u2019ve had eight very productive training weeks, focussed on building the technical and physical capabilities to play the version of \u2018Street Ball\u2019 we believe will move us closer to earning the right to call ourselves gold medal contenders.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis competition is a critical checkpoint to measure our progress against world-class opposition. We are focused on storm-proofing our performance \u2013 deepening our understanding of the game so we can recognise what\u2019s needed and adapt under pressure. To do that, we have to hunt discomfort and put ourselves in situations that test us, stretch us and give us opportunities to learn and grow in meaningful ways.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnother priority this season is to intentionally build squad capability and depth. We\u2019re developing each player\u2019s strengths to maximise what we can achieve collectively, helping players understand what makes them unique and how they can bring that to their role.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Last season on the HSBC SVNS Series, the USA finished third on the overall rankings and finished fourth [due to points difference] after three HSBC SVNS World Championship events. This included second place in Valladolid.<\/p>\n<p>USA Women\u2019s Eagles Sevens preseason tour squad<\/p>\n<p>Ariana Ramsey<br \/>Autumn Czaplicki<br \/>Autumn LoCicero<br \/>Erica Coulibaly<br \/>Fane Tausinga<br \/>Ilona Maher<br \/>Kayla Canett<br \/>Kristi Kirshe \u2013 Captain<br \/>Lilly Thomas<br \/>Nalu Liufau<br \/>Rachel Strasdas<br \/>Sammy Sullivan<br \/>Sariah Ibarra<br \/>Sereana Vulaono<br \/>Su Adekoke<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published: 3 hours ago | 26 October 2026 18:12 EDT womens sevens-women U.S. Olympian Ilona Maher poses for&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":942159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-942158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=942158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/942159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=942158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=942158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=942158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}