Sadia Kabeya: ‘Meeting others in rugby who look like me brought me out of my shell – I can be myself now’
England’s World Cup winner on fitting in, developing a special scrum cap and that ‘wow’ Red Roses triumph at TwickenhamWhen 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,“You look up and you see everyone in the stands,I remember everyone pointing up and being like: ‘Look, look,’ It was crazy,I got my phone out immediately, I was like: ‘I need to film this.
’”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 “Do, do, do Sadia Kabeya” chorus was led by her England teammate Hannah Botterman.These are all moments she did not comprehend could be a reality a decade ago.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.“It was in Richmond, which is a predominantly white area,” Kabeya says.“I was young and I wanted to fit into the team so culturally I changed what music I was listening to, how I was speaking.I don’t speak how I used to speak when I was 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.“It’s 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.”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.“It’s 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’re sweating and getting through a lot of work but also protecting your hair.“A scrum cap is something that has been around for a long, long time, it’s 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’t want to get my hair messy but I loved the sport so it didn’t bother me.Sign up to The BreakdownThe latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewedafter newsletter promotion“However, for some girls that would be it.It would be: ‘I’m not playing because I don’t want to do that to my hair, I don’t want to have breakage.’ To have something that could keep people in the game or have people join the game is huge.
”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’s 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 “mental dip” during the 2025 Six Nations: “I came in thinking: ‘Oh I’ll be fine, I’ll be able to ride it out.’“I think the worse it got off pitch, the worse it got on pitch.I was 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,”
‘Legacies condensed to AI slop’: OpenAI Sora videos of the dead raise alarm with legal experts
Last night I was flicking through a dating app. One guy stood out: “Henry VIII, 34, King of England, nonmonogamy”. Next thing I know, I am at a candlelit bar sharing a martini with the biggest serial dater of the 16th century.But the night is not over. Next, I am DJing back-to-back with Diana, Princess of Wales
Dan and Phil’s relationship revelation is a reminder of how toxic fandoms can be | Eilish Gilligan
This week, longtime British YouTubers Dan Howell and Phil Lester uploaded a new video confirming they have been in a secret romantic relationship for the past 16 years.If you weren’t a deeply online child during the 2010s, you probably have no idea who Dan and Phil are, or why this matters. But to those who formed a robust parasocial bond with the duo – who have more than 13 million collective subscribers on YouTube – this was a revelatory moment. It was also a sobering reminder of the emotional damage that toxic fandoms can wreak on their subjects.Over the course of 45 minutes, Howell and Lester, now in their thirties, share the “apocalyptic constant stress of the Dan and Phil dating conspiracy”, where “fans” subjected them to frenzied speculation for 16 years straight
Banks need stricter controls to prevent romance fraud, says City regulator
The City regulator has called on banks and payment firms to bring in stricter controls protecting customers from romance fraud after a study showed a number of missed “red flags” that led to people losing huge sums of money.The review by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) highlighted one case where someone lost £428,000, another where a customer made 403 payments totalling £72,000 to a fraudster and a case where someone wanted money to transfer cryptocurrency to their “partner” in Iraq.Romance scams, where criminals try to build emotional connections with victims before defrauding them, have been growing in scale and complexity in recent years.Figures from the City of London police put the loss from romance fraud at £106m last year, although the FCA says the real figure is much higher as many people do not report the crime owing to feelings of shame and stigma.The FCA review of six banks and payment firms looked at how they detect and prevent romance fraud and found large disparities in how victims of fraud were treated
Launch of veteran card will be used to test UK government’s digital ID scheme
Former military personnel will be used to test and refine the government’s divisive digital ID scheme from Friday, when ministers make a smartphone-based veteran card available to 1.8 million people.The proof of service, which in its current physical version gives access to charities, retail discounts and certain public services, will be the first of a series of official credentials the government wants to let people carry in a government app.Digital driving licences will be in development by the end of this year and by the end of 2027, digital versions of every government-issued credential – including disclosure and barring checks – will be offered for voluntary use, officials said. Keir Starmer wants to make carrying a digital ID mandatory for anyone wanting or needing to prove their right to work in the UK by the end of this parliament
Heed warnings from Wolmar on robotaxis | Brief letters
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Barrister found to have used AI to prepare for hearing after citing ‘fictitious’ cases
An immigration barrister was found by a judge to be using AI to do his work for a tribunal hearing after citing cases that were “entirely fictitious” or “wholly irrelevant”.Chowdhury Rahman was discovered using ChatGPT-like software to prepare his legal research, a tribunal heard. Rahman was found not only to have used AI to prepare his work, but “failed thereafter to undertake any proper checks on the accuracy”.The upper tribunal judge Mark Blundell said Rahman had even tried to hide the fact he had used AI and “wasted” the tribunal’s time. Blundell said he was considering reporting Rahman to the Bar Standards Board
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