‘We love teams that challenge us’: Sadia Kabeya excited to experience WXV

England star Sadia Kabeya is looking forward to renewing rivalries with Canada when the Red Roses travel to Vancouver to defend their WXV 1 title in September.

Canada will always hold a significant place in the flanker’s heart given it was against them that she made her Test debut, at Twickenham Stoop back in November 2021.

Twelve months later, she appeared as a second-half replacement as the Red Roses held off a determined effort from the North Americans to edge a classic Women’s Rugby World Cup semi-final 26-19 at Eden Park.

Injury prevented Kabeya from playing any part in England’s three matches against Canada in 2023, including during their triumphant WXV 1 campaign, but she returned to the Red Roses line-up in March and helped them to another Guinness Women’s Six Nations Grand Slam.

England are scheduled to face Canada in the final match of WXV 1 at BC Place on October 12th, a match that will pit the Six Nations champions against the 2024 World Rugby Pacific Four Series winners.

“We've seen over the past couple of years, they're just going from strength to strength,” Kabeya told RugbyPass about Canada.

“As an England side, we love to play teams that challenge us and teams that will challenge us in different ways.

“You never want to go into a game where you know what the outcome will be and when we play Canada that's one of those games [when you don’t].

“So, I think it's always exciting to play Canada as an England side and personally for me obviously, getting my first cap against them adds another layer to it.”

Canada created history when they beat New Zealand in Christchurch to claim the Pacific Four Series title and Kabeya is expecting a tough match when England face them in Vancouver.

“They’re a team of athletes across the board, throughout their forwards and throughout their backs, which means they're really unpredictable,” she said.

“It means they're good across the board, so whether that's going forward or whether that's getting around or kicking over the top and they're a team I think who likes to play with a bit of flair as well.

“They're not so structured and playing against a team who has less structure, it's always hard to defend because you never know what's coming.

“And, you know, them having star players like Sophie de Goede, who can make something out of nothing, I think gives an extra layer to them as well.

“I think the main [reason they are hard to play against] is being a team of athletes, their engines are unreal, so they can just go and go and go. So, as an England team, you’ve got to be able to withstand that.”

Having been forced to watch the inaugural edition of WXV from home, Kabeya is determined to be part of the competition later this year.

And speaking more broadly, she believes WXV is playing a crucial role in the development of the women’s game globally.

“It’s so important, I think, for the way that women's rugby is going,” Kabeya explained. “Everyone deserves to be put on a platform and WXV does exactly that.

“It gives these teams that you might not have seen a chance to show what their strengths are and what they're made of, and it's also really exciting because different types of rugby are played in different countries.

“So, for an English player, to watch another team playing that you've never seen is exciting, you get to pick out different things and see how people do different things in different places.

“But I think just generally these teams, these countries deserve to have some time for everyone to see them and WXV does that. Like I said, in the women's game, the trajectory is just going up and up, and everyone deserves to be on that trajectory too.”

Results in the Six Nations and last year’s WXV 1 suggest that England are also trending upwards under head coach John Mitchell.

Although Louis Deacon is the only member of the coaching staff that remains from the Simon Middleton era, the transition has been smooth and the Grand Slam was won at a relative canter.

“I think Mitch has been great and I think he's really settled in. Obviously, we've basically got a whole new coaching team,” Kabeya said.

“He's done really well to bring them all together. Everyone's on the same page in terms of how he wants us to be coached, but also allowing the coaches to have their own individuality in how they want to coach as well in their different areas.

“So, it's been really good, and he's got a huge focus on team bonding and that team atmosphere.

“I think we've seen on and off the pitch us become a lot closer, a lot more tight-knit, and I think that's really helped us in terms of our game, especially when you're learning a new game, a whole new way of playing.

“Having those bonds underneath it really, really helps. I think he's been great in doing that and generally, I think the girls are really happy with how he's come into the squad as a coach. I think he's a great guy.”

Those bonds will be tested on the road to Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 as the Red Roses aim to deliver a third title on home soil, following near misses at the last two tournaments.

WXV and England’s warm-up matches against France and New Zealand in September therefore provide a vital staging post on that journey.

“It's so important,” Kabeya said. “New Zealand in itself is a huge game and pretty exciting that's it’s going to be at Twickenham as well.

“A little taste hopefully what is to come in in 2025 when we head back there and then also against France [at Kingsholm].

“So, two really exciting, high-profile games which are really going to build the hype around WXV but then also the hype around 2025 because hopefully we'll get some of new fans down to those games, who'll want to come to watch the Six Nations and then want to come and watch the World Cup.”

Kabeya insists her focus for the upcoming season remains “trying to continue to cement myself” with both England and Loughborough Lightning.

But having played in a World Cup and helped England to multiple Grand Slams since making her Test debut against Canada less than three years ago, she is certainly proud of what she has achieved so far.

“For me, even being called up into the set up and getting my first cap was a whirlwind in itself,” she said.

“Playing for England wasn't something that would have been on my mood board or in my vision. So, it was amazing to even get to that point and get my first cap.

“But I wouldn't have envisioned three years down the line that I'd [have] played in multiple Grand Slams, and now it's actually my full-time job. It's kind of crazy to think how far I've come.”

WXV kicks off on the weekend of Friday, September 27th in Vancouver, South Africa and Dubai. View the full match schedule here.