Kelly Arbey has made a habit of scoring against England. Having made her mark with a hat-trick of tries the France Under-20s against the Red Roses a year ago, the jet-heeled young wing added to her record with a spectacular solo try for the senior team at Twickenham in April, holding off two defenders from a standing start before speeding down the line.
The Red Roses responded within minutes but the effort was a catalyst for a late resurgence from Les Bleues in the Six Nations decider. “We were under pressure at that point of the game, so it helped us get back into the match and gave the team a boost,” says Arbey. “I’m very proud of it.”
Arbey’s stunning try helped stake her claim for a spot in the World Cup squad. “I hadn’t played against England at that level before, so this was something else entirely. The game was a lot quicker, the hits were harder, and to play against an England side who are that good gives you a boost.”
The 20-year-old echoes the French camp’s sense of optimism after pushing England all the way, despite ultimately falling to a 15th straight defeat: “We made an impression on the best team in the world, so it’s very positive. We showed that we can compete with them. The result hurt us, but it also makes us want to come back stronger.”
A native of the Tarn département, Arbey began playing rugby at her father’s former club Revel before joining Castres at an early age, training alongside her studies. Arbey, who also took up football, tennis and judo as a child, was inspired to start playing rugby by her older brother when she was four. “He had an important role in my life, and still does today. He stopped playing after three years, but I kept going.”
She made the short move south-west to sign for Toulouse, then the reigning national champions, in 2022. “That’s where it all began, where the gates to the French national teams were opened to me,” she says. “At Toulouse, our training sessions were during the day, the same as for the boys, and it was more professional.”
Arbey is one of the youngest players in France’s World Cup squad, which the head coaches Gaëlle Mignot and David Ortiz finalised earlier this week. While she only graduated to the senior national team in March 2024, the following 12 months gave her international experience on several fronts as she crossed over to Sevens. “I wasn’t doubting myself, I just took things as they came,” she says of a year which saw her juggle between two codes all the while continuing her physiotherapy studies.
“It was a bit unexpected, it happened after a few players were injured,” Arbey admits of her debut against Ireland in last year’s Six Nations. “I took it as a big opportunity, I still had to prove myself. I worked hard, both on and off the pitch, and I got the chance to play.” Her first try for the XV de France came a week later, against Scotland.
Arbey’s inclusion in the Sevens team after the Paris Olympics, which saw her take part in the Dubai, Cape Town and Perth tournaments, also proved pivotal for her progression. “It’s helped me a lot in terms of my reading of the game, especially of open spaces. Technically speaking, I was able to improve my passing and kicking games. It also helped with my cardio, since it’s a sport where everything is always at full speed.”
Playing several matches in quick succession over the course of a weekend also helped her to build up a capacity for recovery. “When you lose a match in Sevens, you have to be able to move on to the next one quickly. That mentality helps me a lot and I think it’s very positive – now I can say, OK, we’ve lost against England: where did it go wrong and what can we do to stop that from happening again?”
The decision to phase Arbey back into the senior team at the start of the year has more than paid off. “The coaching staff help me really well with that transition. Every time I go back to Union from Sevens, and vice-versa, I spend a month back in Toulouse getting accustomed to it again.”
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The Stade Toulousain back also plans to remain involved in Sevens for the foreseeable future: “Next year, I’ll be back with them to prepare for the next Olympics. It’s a longer-term objective, but it’s something to keep in mind, it’s in three years and we need to be ready for it.”
For now, though, the focus is on beating England, both in Saturday’s warm-up match in Mont-de-Marsan and in the World Cup. “The goal was to leave our mark, to show that that we’re here. Now that we’re in their heads, and they know who we are, we’ll have to keep pushing to get the win.” Like the rest of the France set-up, however, Arbey is acutely aware of the aspects Les Bleues have needed to work on: “When you’re playing against a team of that level, you know that any error will cost you points, so you have to be disciplined. That’s something we need to work on.”
A semi-final against England next month could stand between Les Bleues and a first-ever World Cup final. Arbey is not looking that far ahead, though: “We can’t start imagining ourselves in the final – we’ll have to win our other matches first to build up our confidence.
“In the group stage we’ll be starting off against Italy, who are a hard team to beat. We played well against them in the Six Nations, so we need to continue in that vein. We played against the South Africans in a training match as well, and we saw how combative they are. There won’t be any room for easing up. Personally, my aim just to be well-prepared for the tournament and to earn some caps.”
While she is increasingly a key member of the France squad, Arbey insists that she is still “building” herself, with the help of senior teammates such as Pauline Bourdon-Sansus and Charlotte Escudero. “They’re amazing, they really support me a lot. My status in the squad might have changed in the sense that I’m more integrated in the team, but I’m still just focused on improving my performances.”
In Mont-de-Marsan, the 20-year-old will earn her sixth senior cap against an increasingly familiar opponent. While some of the more seasoned Bleues have downplayed the importance of a potential win, Kelly Arbey has struck a more combative, confident tone: “We’re not talking about a warm-up match here. We have to leave our mark on them and give it our all.”
