Sadia Kabeya | Student of the game
Loughborough Lightning’s Sadia Kabeya has risen through the ranks of English rugby to cement her place among the best players in the world. But for the 21-year-old, the journey is only just beginning.
In November 2021 – just over 16 months ago – she was named in the starting line-up for the Red Roses’ autumn international against Canada, and made her Test debut. Since then, she has made a name for herself as an integral member of the squad.
Instrumental in their 2022 Six Nations Grand Slam and named as the Rugby Players’ Association’s Allianz Premier 15s player of the year for 2022, Sadia was soon competing for a spot in a Rugby World Cup.
But her introduction to rugby in school, she says, was the catalyst for her love of the game.
“I first started playing rugby in secondary school. I was in year eight and I’d always been very sporty. I was in a science lesson and got pulled out of class. The teacher said that the rugby team were low on numbers, that they had some spare kit and asked if I would play. I didn’t know the rules, they just said I had to run forward, pass backwards, and that was it. After saying yes, I had to look for some boots in the lost property bin.
“I was quite an aggressive child when it came to sport. I remember trying to play tennis and it was a no-go because I would just whack the ball out of the court every single time. They evidently thought rugby would be good for me.
“I had such a great time, and it was great to play a sport with my friends that I hadn’t played before. When the game finished everyone was saying ‘wow, Sadia, you were really good!’, and in my head I was just thinking that I’d done what they told me to do. I fell in love with rugby straight away.”
And if it wasn’t for the guidance of England teammate Bryony Cleall – who taught Sadia in secondary school – she may never have reached the heights of the international stage.
“Bryony joined our school two years later, and I’d been playing at school casually for a couple years. She was in the England setup at the time, and she encouraged me to take up rugby outside school and pursue it seriously. Before, it was just a pastime and an excuse to get out of lessons, but Bry showed me that it could be a career path.”
Sadia joined Richmond Rugby Club, who were then playing in the Tyrells Premier 15s. Her first game for the club came around, and with that the nerves of playing against some of the biggest names in the sport.
“I remember being extremely nervous and I’d shy away from doing any carrying. Any time I could get on the inside and get away with not being the ball carrier, I would. Tackling has always been my thing, and in that game, I realised that if I got low enough I could get them down. That’s really where my love for the game came from, and the realisation of what my strengths were.”
A move to Wasps and then Loughborough Lightning presented the opportunity to compete at a higher level, and Sadia was awarded her first England call-up in 2021.
“Getting my first cap was a really proud moment. Playing against Canada, a tough side, and in a full-strength England team was a cool moment for me and a great introduction to international rugby. That was really when the switch flipped. Before, I’d been very relaxed about it, but I knew at that point that I wanted to fight for my shirt every week.”
And fight she did. Last year, Sadia was named in Simon Middleton’s squad for the delayed 2021 Rugby World Cup, a meteoric rise for the then 20-year-old. Her first experience on the World Cup stage came against Fiji in the opening pool round.
“Against Fiji the magnitude of playing in a World Cup really hit me. I was hyper-focused before the game thinking about doing my job and having a good game. I dropped a ball from a kick-off, so for the rest of the game that’s all I could think of, and I was kicking myself. When the game ended, I was walking back to the changing room when I got pulled back and was told I’d got Player of the Match. Going to get my trophy I thought to myself ‘Okay, maybe I did actually have a decent game’. I guess that just shows that everyone is their own harshest critic.”
The Red Roses went on to reach the final, breaking the record for the most consecutive Test wins (with 30?) and narrowly missing the world title in a tense affair against the New Zealand Black Ferns. Now, with all eyes on the Six Nations and the 2025 World Cup on the horizon, the sky really is the limit for Sadia and team as they build on the Red Roses’ legacy.
