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A Bright Future - We chat with Richmond Women's Sadia Kabeya

Last weekend’s TyrrellsPremier 15s gave us a tightly contested and incredibly interesting gamebetween Worcester and Richmond Women.While the Warriors would leave with the win there were a lot of reasons to bepositive for the London side so we caught up with one of their most excitingyoung talents, Sadia Kabeya to gaugethe mood at the Athletic Ground

Richmond walked away with a losing bonus point from their bruisingencounter at Sixways, but Kabeya is adamant from the off that it wasn’t all negativefor Richmond. “We took a lot of positives away from the game. That’s one of thebest performances we’ve had so far. I’ve especially shown a lot of improvement.Obviously there are a lot of things we need to work on. This week in trainingwe’ve really focused on our defence. It was a tight, challenging game for usbut I feel it was a turning point. Previously Worcester were the only team we’dbeaten so to lose against them has been a bit of a shock and it’s brought ustogether this week in training, made us closer as a team!”

That team unity is hugely important at this point in theseason when things aren’t necessarily going the right way for a club. “One ofour big things we do on the field is celebrate every win we have. Any goodthing someone does – a turnover or a big tackle – everyone congratulates thatplayer. That keeps us close as a team, especially when we are coming away fromgames with losses. There’s always a chance we’d drop our heads and go back intoourselves but as a team we lift each other up. It’s great that we have thatfamily atmosphere in Richmond!”

“I felt very welcomed, very comfortable from my first weekhere” Sadia says of stepping up from Richmond’s centre of excellence into thefirst team environment. “For me Richmond was the right choice because of thatfamily feel. Everyone helps each other out to grow as a team.”

Kabeya is on o the Premier 15’s most exciting youngprospects and has already earned international honours from captaining England7s under 18s team. “I’ve always been a 15s player naturally. I’m quite bigcompared to the other 7s players. I enjoy the physical aspect of rugby as wellso in 15s there’s a lot more of that. Last year I had the opportunity to goaway and play 7s though and I really liked the fitness, skill and precision youneeded. I’ll do some more 7s this summer but 15s is the way I want to go. Interms of what is best for me, I feel I will excel more as a 15s player. 7s issomething I can just go away and enjoy.”

Sadia during her time with England 7s

Kabeya certainly isn’t afraid to get stuck in and for someoneso new to Premier 15s she’s not been afraid to get stuck in. She’s got a clearview of what she brings to the team too. “I’d say I’m quite a dynamic player. I’dback myself for pace against other back rowers, and for power. I like the bigcollisions around the contact area. I try to make dominant hits to drive oppositionback behind the gain line. When I get a chance I like to try and be dynamicaround the pitch. People say a good flanker should mix the best aspects offorwards and backs so that’s what I’m aiming to be!”

Growing up Kabeya wasn’t always looking to rugby, like RedRoses prop Shaunagh Brown she was a promising field athlete too. “I’ve alwaysbeen athletic. Growing up I did gymnastics, until I was about 11. I moved into athleticsthen, predominantly as a field athlete. I did shot putt, discus and in the lasttwo year my event was the hammer. Last year I got into the Team GB under 18sset up. I had to make a choice because athletics and rugby was a bit too much.I made a decision about which one I thought I could be most successful in butalso which one I enjoyed the most and with rugby I love the social aspect of ateam sport. In athletics, as a solo sport, I didn’t enjoy the individualpressure so much. I think the decision really paid off, last year was the mostsuccessful of my development years being able to captain the 7s and thenjoining Richmond and my Prem debut. I take a lot from what I learned inathletics though, the power and technique transfer through to rugby.”

As a young player it’s good to have experienced teammatesyou can learn from and Richmond has plenty of players who’ve been there anddone it. Sadia is clear on the support they have given her. “When I first cameto Richmond, I was a bit starstruck, getting to play alongside players I’d seenon the TV or playing for England. Getting into the season I’ve been able toreally learn from the likes of Ro and Grace (Rowena Burnfield and Grace Moore).They’re such experienced players with so much knowledge of the game. The waythey play – Rowena with her ball carrying and Grace with her agility around thepitch – they do things I want to bring to my game. Grace played at the sameclub as me before Richmond so to see her come up through the club, make thestep to Richmond and play in the Prem, in my position, has really boosted meand given me that extra drive. When I arrived she told me she’d help me andlook out for me and that’s the extra support I needed. Coming in young there’sso much I can learn and having these role models really helps!”

That hard work has paid off with a place in the Englandunder 20s squad. “It’s going really well. This is my first year in under 20sand I’m one of the youngest in the squad so I’m taking the time to learn fromthe players above me. The coaches are really high level and know what they needto do and when so it’s been a really good start to the season. We don’t playuntil the summer so we’re working on our core skills until we get a chance tounleash them in tri-nations games then!”

This weekend Richmond play host to Gloucester-Hartpury andSadia is clear on what to expect from the visitors. “We expect them to be a veryphysical side. They’ve got a strong pack and physical runners so for usforwards we need to get in their faces with some big hits and dominant tackles.Their backline has threats from the likes of Kelly Smith so we need to matchthem for physicality and aggressiveness. We know what we need to do to win, we’vebeen focusing on our defence all through training this week and we’re lookingforward to facing them.”

After this weekends games the league takes a break for theSix Nations, but Richmond will be in action in February to play out theirrescheduled home game against Saracens, a weekend where the women’s rugbyspotlight will be firmly fixed on the Athletic Ground as they play the only top-flightgame. “We’ll still be training week in, week out through the break but havingthat extra playing time will keep everyone switched on. Sometimes it can be ashock to the system after a long break going back into competitive games sohaving a match there will keep us fresh and give us a chance to see where weare, take some things away and work on them ahead of the other games.”

Richmond take on Gloucester-Hartpury on Saturday and returnto action on February 15th against Saracens. We’ll be in attendancefor that and aim to bring our first match report. In the meantime stay tunedfor more interviews!

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