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 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.’”

‘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,’ says Sadia Kabeya. Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The Guardian

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.”

England’s 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

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.

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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

“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.’

Sadia Kabeya goes on a charge during the Women’s Rugby World Cup final against Canada. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

“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.”