{"id":507393,"date":"2025-10-17T17:57:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T17:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/507393\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T17:57:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T17:57:11","slug":"sadia-kabeya-meeting-others-in-rugby-who-look-like-me-brought-me-out-of-my-shell-i-can-be-myself-now-england-womens-rugby-union-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/507393\/","title":{"rendered":"Sadia Kabeya: \u2018Meeting others in rugby who look like me brought me out of my shell \u2013 I can be myself now\u2019 | England women’s rugby union team"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the final whistle blew, relief washed over Sadia Kabeya. In front of a record crowd, she hugged her England teammate Lucy Packer and only then realised that the Red Roses had won the Rugby World Cup. The final against Canada<\/a> had been so \u201cgruelling\u201d, Kabeya found it hard to believe they were world champions until she heard that sound. \u201cIt was amazing,\u201d Kabeya says. \u201cThe full-time whistle was a lot of relief, a chance to breathe out and then: \u2018Wow, we\u2019ve done it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

England\u2019s triumph capped a dominant three years, a 33-game winning run, but the off-field impact is what Kabeya remembers most. In particular, getting off the team bus to be greeted by thousands of supporters and the roar from the 81,885-strong Twickenham crowd after the anthems.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t even explain it,\u201d the 23-year-old flanker says. \u201cThe walk-in was amazing, a once in a lifetime experience. Just to see the amount of support, the diversity in it \u2013 families, people who are younger, older, loads of men coming to the game \u2013 it was huge. I definitely have to watch videos back to see it because I don\u2019t think I captured it enough because I was a bit in shock.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look up and you see everyone in the stands. I remember everyone pointing up and being like: \u2018Look, look.\u2019 It was crazy. I got my phone out immediately, I was like: \u2018I need to film this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Just to see the amount of support, the diversity in it \u2013 families, people who are younger, older, loads of men coming to the game \u2013 it was huge,\u2019 says Sadia Kabeya. Photograph: Fabio De Paola\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

If Kabeya was left with lifelong memories then she also made some for the fans, with a player-of-the-final performance steering England to their 33-13 victory. Thousands sang her now-familiar chant at the Battersea Power Station celebrations the following day, when the \u201cDo, do, do Sadia Kabeya\u201d chorus was led by her England teammate Hannah Botterman. These are all moments she did not comprehend could be a reality a decade ago.<\/p>\n

Kabeya first picked up a rugby ball about 15 miles south-east of Twickenham, at the Harris city academy in Croydon, south London. Initially playing alongside the boys, she was encouraged by the PE teacher and former England prop Bryony Cleall to pursue the sport. When she joined her first club, away from south London, she felt she had to change parts of herself to fit in.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was in Richmond, which is a predominantly white area,\u201d Kabeya says. \u201cI was young and I wanted to fit into the team so culturally I\u00a0changed what music I was listening to, how I was speaking. I don\u2019t speak how I used to speak when I\u00a0was in secondary school but I was a proper south London girl when I came to Richmond and I kind of wanted to change that and suppress myself.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s only as I have gone along in the sport and met other people who look like me and have brought me out of my shell again that I am finding [my] personality. I am myself now.\u201d<\/p>\n

England\u2019s Sadia Kabeya poses for a selfie with fans as England celebrate their World Cup triumph at Battersea power station. Photograph: Henry Nicholls\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Alongside inspiring the next generation, Kabeya has developed a product which will remove more barriers blocking some from taking up the sport. Working with her sponsor Gilbert, she has created a satin scrum cap to protect a range of hair types from friction, rubbing and drying.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a process because we had to find the right material with how it can work and be breathable still as it has to be something you can wear in rugby, where you\u2019re sweating and getting through a lot of work but also protecting your hair.<\/p>\n

\u201cA scrum cap is something that has been around for a long, long time, it\u2019s not a revolutionary idea. But to add this layer, it is such a small thing but it can make such a big difference. In secondary school I used to play with a plastic bag on my head because I didn\u2019t want to get my hair messy but I loved the sport so it didn\u2019t bother me.<\/p>\n

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I was a proper south London girl when I came to Richmond and I wanted to change that and suppress myself<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cHowever, for some girls that would be it. It would be: \u2018I\u2019m not playing because I don\u2019t want to do that to my hair, I don\u2019t want to have breakage.\u2019 To have something that could keep people in the game or have people join the game is huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ending of this World Cup cycle has been golden for Kabeya. Her next appearance in an England jersey will be in the Six Nations in April, while in the interim her focus will be on the upcoming Premiership Women\u2019s Rugby season for her club, Loughborough Lightning. In the three years between the last two World Cups, she found it far from easy, experiencing injuries and a \u201cmental dip\u201d during the 2025 Six Nations: \u201cI came in thinking: \u2018Oh I\u2019ll be fine, I\u2019ll be able to ride it out.\u2019<\/p>\n

Sadia Kabeya goes on a charge during the Women\u2019s Rugby World Cup final against Canada. Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the worse it got off pitch, the worse it got on pitch. I\u00a0was able to go away, do the work and speak to the right people to get myself in the best head space for a World Cup. I think, especially in sport, you wait until you hit rock bottom to try to do something about it. Whereas now, having the resources and people who I can use consistently instead of waiting to hit a bump in the road is huge.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the final whistle blew, relief washed over Sadia Kabeya. In front of a record crowd, she hugged…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":507394,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[4151,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-507393","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115390804553286368","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=507393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/507394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}