England’s World Cup winner on fitting in, developing a special scrum cap and that ‘wow’ Red Roses triumph at Twickenham
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hen 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 had been so “gruelling”, Kabeya found it hard to believe they were world champions until she heard that sound. “It was amazing,” Kabeya says. “The full-time whistle was a lot of relief, a chance to breathe out and then: ‘Wow, we’ve done it.’”
England’s 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.
“I can’t even explain it,” the 23-year-old flanker says. “The walk-in was amazing, a once in a lifetime experience. Just to see the amount of support, the diversity in it – families, people who are younger, older, loads of men coming to the game – it was huge. I definitely have to watch videos back to see it because I don’t think I captured it enough because I was a bit in shock.
