Sam Tomkins excited to link-up with Shaun Wane with England squad

The Catalans and ex-Warriors full-back has been called up by the new England head coach for a get-together at Old Trafford on March 23.

"When I decided to leave Wigan I didn't think I'd get to play under Shaun again, especially with him not long after deciding to go to Scotland rugby union," he said.

"It doesn't seem two minutes since I played for him last so it wouldn't seem strange."

Tomkins has plenty of competition for the England full-back spot but he has hit the ground running this season and is back to his old form.

"I'm enjoying my rugby," he said. "I came back into pre-season a little bit earlier, I wanted to get involved.

"With two new half-backs coming in, it was important we got combinations working as soon as possible.

"There's obviously still a lot to work on but it seems like we're a step ahead of where we were last year in terms of combinations and the spine."

Meanwhile, Tomkins reckons his new Catalans Dragons team-mate Israel Folau is just as big a threat without the ball as he is with it.

The Australian dual-code international is one of the biggest signings in Super League history and will be hoping to make it three wins from as many games when Salford visit Stade Gilbert Brutus tomorrow.

Folau made a big impact on his debut, scoring with his first touch in the Dragons' 36-18 win over Castleford a fortnight ago, and helped set up the winning try at Hull last Sunday.

"I think teams have over-marked him," Tomkins said. "Castleford certainly did, they were putting a lot of defenders in front of him which made it pretty easy on the other side of the field.

"It was the same at the weekend at Hull. Ben Jullien scored two tries and they were both down to Josh Griffin being too worried about Israel Folau.

"I think as we play more and Izzy gets more used to us, we will see a bit more from him but it's clear that he's a real athlete and he's going to do something special for us, hopefully."

The visit of the Red Devils comes almost 12 months to the day since Ian Watson's men pulled off a memorable 46-0 victory in Perpignan, of which Tomkins says the Dragons players need little reminding.

"At the time it was a bit of a shock," he said. "We were way off the pace and it was probably a wake-up call for all of us of where we were.

"It showed no matter how good you train, you need to turn up at the weekend and play.

"It was probably the heaviest defeat I've ever experienced and it will be in the back of our minds.

"But it was 12 months ago and a lot has changed. We've got a much different group and so have Salford. We don't feel we owe them one or anything but we don't want to get beat like that again."