U.S. rugby union star Ilona Maher narrowly came up short in the finale of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” on Tuesday night, finishing third in the judges’ scores, but coming in by an agonizing second after viewer votes were counted.

Before her final dance with her partner Allen Bursten, Maher summed up the impact of her appearance on the show.

“I am strong and powerful, but I can also be graceful,” said the Olympic sevens bronze medalist. “So the Mirrorball (Trophy) won’t be so much for me (if I win it), I think it will be for all the girls who have been told they’re too tall or too muscular or they’re not pretty.”

The Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy – named after the late British judge of the show and its British equivalent Strictly Come Dancing – went to Joey Graziadei (star of ABC’s The Bachelor) and dancer Jenna Johnson.

Maher’s next move will be highly anticipated by her legions of new fans from her three-month stint on prime-time screens, her huge following on social media where she posts messages of empowerment mixed with trademark jokes, and across the rugby world.

Maher has said she wants to play for the U.S. in the 15-a-side Rugby World Cup in England next year. She would bring massive star power on and off the field – but hasn’t been on the field for some time and will have more TV engagements. The Bachelorette was fortunately hinted at. On Tuesday night, ABC announced that Maher and Bursten will join the Dancing with the Stars tour in select cities.

They entered Tuesday’s joyfully punishing three-hour finale third in the previous week’s jury rankings with 57 points, one point behind two couples: Graziadei and Johnson and Chandler Kinney (a young actor, star of Disney’s Zombies) and her partner Brandon Armstrong.

In introducing Maher, judge Bruno Tonioli called her “perhaps the most powerful female star we’ve ever had – and yet she also brings enlightenment.”

Maher’s first dance came in the Redemption Round – a chance to correct mistakes he made earlier in the season. Maher received the jive after crying after her first attempt at the form. She and Bursten duly stormed the stage to “Shake a Tail Feather” by Ray Charles. Maher had picked up Bursten before, but now she jumped into his arms.

“I’m not looking forward to the free dance,” Maher said after the dance. “I was really just focused on this redemption and it was bugging me all week and I was stressed all week. It may not be perfect, but I did my best.”

She scored three nines – but on a night when no judge awarded less, it meant she and Bursten fell four points behind the leaders.

A ray of hope opened when Graziadei and Johnson “slid” to just 29 out of 30 in their free skate, which, like Olympic gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik’s, was based on the celebrity’s chosen sport, in this case tennis, which Graziadei previously trained in Hawaii had found reality TV fame. Danny Amendola, the New England Patriots’ Super Bowl-winning wide receiver, mixed things up by performing his freestyle routine as Ken in front of his partner’s bright pink Barbie.

Maher began her freestyle routine in a replica rugby locker room, shirts hung on the walls, each named after an Olympic teammate, and presumably the smell of mud, blood and rub filling the enclosed air. After a brief monologue with jokes, she and Bursten danced a rollicking rugby number to “Femininomenon” by Chappell Roan. At the end, Maher, dressed in a risqué mirrorball costume, attacked Bursten and launched a similarly sparkly rugby ball.

Judge Carrie Ann Inaba gushed: “It’s all about the impact you leave behind.” You leave me so empowered. That’s the magic.”

Three tens followed, a perfect result.

At the Olympic Games in Paris, Maher’s team finished third. This bronze medal has done wonders for women’s rugby in the United States, on and off the field. On “Dancing with the Stars,” Maher did her best, but came up just one place short, earning a fictitious silver medal. But she has done wonders for herself and for the game she plays.