Rugby Star Ilona Maher Shows Off Her Painful-Looking Broken Nose

Rugby is one of those sports that can be so brutal when I see it, I sometimes think to myself, "Man, someone should probably put a stop to this."

It takes a rare breed to play that sport at the highest level, and rugby superstar Ilona Maher showed off some hockey guy-level toughness when she gave her millions of social media followers a look at the broken nose she suffered during the match.

If you don't know who Ilona Maher is, she's the star of the United States rugby team that won a shock bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The biggest thing was her straight-up, brutal stiff arm.

But even before the Games put her on more sports fans' radar, she was already cleaning up on social media.

Add the two together, and she's become a superstar with appearances in Sports Illustrated and on Dancing with the Stars.

Of course, she's still playing rugby and signed with the Bristol Bears over in the United Kingdom. There, her debut was such a big deal, that the team had to move the match to a bigger venue, according to the BBC.

But superstar or not, rugby is rugby and it's rough as hell.

Despite being arguably the biggest name in the sport, Maher still caught a nasty one in the schnoz and showed the aftermath to her millions of followers.

Holy crow! I do believe there's a chicane in that nose.

She's a tough one, that Ilona Maher, and you've got to think a busted-up nose isn't going to keep her on the sidelines for too long.

This all kind of makes me wonder why more rugby players don't get one of the plastic facemasks that you see pop up in the NBA. I'm sure there's a reason, but I'm also sure a crooked sniffer is kind of a badge of honor.