DRIVING FORCE
Davies goes distance for England
WHILE controversies over player availability have dogged the build-up to England’s clash with the Combined Nations All Stars on Friday, Tom Davies was prepared to do anything to play.
So much so that the Catalans winger hired a car to drive 1,000 miles over two days across France and England to take his place in Shaun Wane’s squad, allowing him to avoid any quarantine on his return to Perpignan.
Davies now gets a chance to lay a marker down ahead of this year’s World Cup.
He said: “Getting the phone call to come here was massive, so whatever it took to get here, I had to get it done.
“It was a bit unorthodox but we’re here now. All in all
we drove for 12 hours including stops on the first day and then another six. We stopped near Calais to get across and recharged.”
Davies, 24, even had to cut girlfriend Alex’s planned holiday in the South of France short, but not even that or driving through a storm en route has dampened his enthusiasm for a clash that has divided Super League clubs having to provide players on a weekend they arranged fixtures for.
He added: “Most of the journey we managed to sail through, but there were some parts with my nose against the windscreen with the rain and full lights on.
“I was a bit stressed but I’d have done anything to get here for this game.”
England team-mate Joe Westerman has confirmed he will rejoin his boyhood club Castleford on a two-year deal from 2022.
COMBINED NATIONS ALL STARS SQUAD: Connor (Hull), Edwards (Huddersfield), Hastings (Wigan), Kay (Wakefield), Leeming (Leeds), Leutele (Huddersfield), Mata’utia, Matagi (both Castleford), Mcgillvary (Giants), Moors (Featherstone), Pauli (Salford), Peats (Leigh), Prior (Leeds), Satae, Savelio (both Hull), Sezer (Huddersfield), Sio (Salford), Tanginoa (Wakefield), Yates
(Huddersfield).