TOM Davies is on the road to England stardom – after being on the road for two days to get there.
And his international dream saw girlfriend Alex Cawsey sacrifice her holiday plans after just two days, to return home to Wigan.
Catalans winger Davies is one of three fighting it out to make Shaun Wane’s side against the Combined Nations All Stars on Friday.
Once he got the call after fine form in Super League, there was no holding him back – even though it meant a 1,029-mile journey in a Mercedes CLA – not a big car – through awful weather.
“It was fun, to say the least,” said Davies. “I was glad to get it done. Getting the call was a massive honour and I was going to make sure I got here.
“It was a bit unorthodox. In all, we drove for about 12 hours before stopping near Calais, getting the boat, then another six hours on day two.
“I didn’t want to go through the night as it would have messed up my schedule. I wanted to make sure that when we arrived, I had time to stretch the hamstrings and go from there.
“Normally for Catalans games, it’s two hours on a charter flight and I can have a sleep.
“This time, I was in the car, we were sailing and it was p***ing down with rain with my nose against the windscreen for parts of it.
“It was a case of full lights on and everything. I was a bit stressed.
“Alex had just come to visit me for two weeks, landing on the Monday night. Then on the Tuesday, Shaun rang me and said, ‘You’re in.’ I was like, ‘Right, you’re coming back with me.’
“We managed to stay until Saturday morning so she had a couple of days in the south of France with the sun on her.”
Wane revealed when he called former Wigan star Davies he was just doing his meal preparation.
But there is a more mundane reason for doing it than an ultra-professional attitude off the field – he is not a fan of cooking.
Davies, 24, added: “I just hate doing it and I’m not very good.
“It goes hand-in-hand. I do 10 or 12 chicken breasts in the oven at once, then I freeze a lot of them. When I got the call they were in there cooking in the salt and pepper.
“I’ll not lie to you. It’s not me trying to be the best athlete I can.”
Davies, who has scored seven tries as the Dragons sit top of the league, insists the secret to his success is just being happy in Perpignan, which he describes as ‘a good place to be.’
And he revealed just how him and Sam Tomkins – who also drove up – explained their desire to play for England.
He said: “The fact they released Sam and I shows the club’s attitude. Steve McNamara’s been England coach before, so he knows the situation and how much it means.
“Sam and I told them how much it means and that we really wanted to play. With everything they’ve done with exemptions and quarantine, it would’ve been easy for them to say, ‘No, you’re not doing it.’
“But they’ve been great with us.”