Sadia Kabeya's Six Nations column: It's good to have a challenge
England flanker Sadia Kabeya reflects on the Red Roses' first Six Nations game against Italy and talks preparation for Wales this weekend, as well as in-camp life.
Game on
Morale ahead of our first game was really good, and everyone has been excited to get back into camp and play as Red Roses again. We know it's a big year with the World Cup later on, but what comes first is the Six Nations. The first game being a home fixture was really exciting, there was such a buzz about it and everyone was ready to get going.
We have many positives to take away from our performance last weekend against Italy, as well as things to work on. We came in 33-5 at the break, scoring two tries in the first six minutes, so we had great momentum and a positive first half. The message at half time was to build off that performance.
But credit to Italy, they came out strong in the second half and slowed down our break downs. It's good to have these challenges though as it gives us something to work off, especially with Wales this weekend as they're a very physical team.
In camp
Camp life has been great. While our job is to play good rugby and win the Six Nations, it's really nice to come into camp and see England teammates who are usually our opponents during the Premiership.
Ever since John Mitchell has come in there's been a real buzz about coming into camp and bonding as a team. We go out for meals and enjoy each others company, because the more we're bonded off the pitch, the better we play on it.
Bonding is particularly important this tournament as we have lots of new faces. It's been a while since Mia Venner was last in camp but she's playing amazingly; the same with Abi Burton. All the newcomers have been playing so well and have earned every right to be in camp and they'll definitely go on to get some caps. Having them is adding more strength and depth to the squad and making us even better.
Another change is having Zoe Aldcroft as captain.
She is someone who epitomises what it is to be a Red Rose and is someone who leads by example. Working hard and leading from the front is something she's always done so it hasn't been that different and was a smooth transition.
The main difference with Zoe's captaincy is that she is more of a quiet leader in terms of speeches. She's the kind of person that when she speaks everyone listens; she doesn't have to say much but when she does everyone thinks whatever she says will be really important.
Whereas Marlie's captaincy saw her bring energy both on and off the pitch. Marlie still has as strong voice as vice captain, and it's great to have a combination of those two and Meg Jones as the other vice captain.
Wales week
We're heading to the Principality Stadium this weekend to play Wales which is a huge stadium for them and amazing for us to play at also. I think not playing in one place, particularly our home games, is a great thing, as it grows the game by allowing people to come and experience women's rugby from other areas. It's fun for us but having new fans is great. My mum and aunty are making the journey to come and watch, so will be great to have their support.
While it is an away game, there's no added pressure for us. We know it's going to be loud which just means we need to be even louder, it's more of a reason for us to go out there and perform.
Going into any game we always try and focus on ourselves and see what we can do to improve our game. For us, it's about being squeaky clean and aggressive around our breakdown, but still be able to play fast.
