More than just a front-row partnership
As Hampshire women were training hard to take on Durham and battle to retain their title in the Gill Burns Division 2 Final at Twickenham, for both starting props it was hard to switch off when they got home.
As Hampshire women were training hard to take on Durham and battle to retain their title in the Gill Burns Division 2 Final at Twickenham, for both starting props it was hard to switch off when they got home.
That’s because Kesha Drain, competitions activator at the RFU, and Ashleigh Robertson, an aeronautical engineer, have been partners for the past five years.
Kesha, who plays loosehead, and tighthead Ashleigh met at Loughborough when both were playing for the university. Kesha initially played in the second row before switching to loose-head prop in the last year of her sport and exercise science degree.
“We have very similar interests, not least the rugby, with similar tastes in music and we both love live sports events, especially women’s sport,” says Kesha, who after university worked for British Universities and Colleges Sport before joining the RFU in March 2023. She jokes that Ashleigh keeps aircraft flying while being “a great laugh with a repertoire of killer one-liners. I’m the louder one but Ashleigh is the most likely to sing Eminem on the team bus!"
In their first season at Loughborough, the team was unbeaten and secured the league and cup in BUCS 2, to win promotion. The following year Ashleigh was playing for Loughborough town while on placement until COVID hit. Then, after graduating, she moved south and played for Hampshire last season, winning The Gill Burns Division 2 final. Kesha joined her in September 2022, both now playing for Trojans, who just finished Championship 2 in third place. They both started every Hampshire game this season in the front row.
“This will be the first time playing at Twickenham for both of us,” says Kesha. “That makes it extra special and for me to be playing where I work, at the Home of England Rugby, will be amazing. We’ve been together for five years and hopefully we can get another five years playing rugby together.”
Kesha credits Hampshire head coach, Matt Davies, with the team’s success and says forwards coach Donna Rose “has taught us everything we need to know about scrummaging. We play with many of the county players at Trojans and they know us well, seeing us as team mates rather than as a couple.”
It would, however, be the icing on the cake should this couple of team mates lift the Gill Burns Division 2 Cup.
Watch Day One and Day Two of the County Championships on England Rugby's YouTube channel.
