Rugby League World Cup 2013: England full-back Sam Tomkins embraces superstar status Before he disappears Down Under, he has a chance to provide his home nation with the ultimate parting gift. Starting with the game against Australia this Saturday in Cardiff, England expects. And the sight of Tomkins lifting the World Cup at Old Trafford on Nov 30 would be an event with earth-shattering ramifications for the sport in this country. When he has finally disbursed himself of his light entertainment responsibilities, one might expect Tomkins to be a little bemused by the attention lavished on him. But there is a certain bullish assurance to this guy, teetering just on the right side of cockiness. It is, after all, what makes him such a flamboyantly daring runner out on the park. "I was fully expecting there to be a lot of excitement around the World Cup, and so there should be," he says. It's the biggest sporting competition in the country this year. Rugby league probably doesn't quite get the publicity that it deserves. We've got a great product, and hopefully the World Cup will give it another boost. People around the country will watch it on the BBC and hopefully keep an interest following on. The Tomkins name is becoming something of a rugby dynasty. Older brother Joel made the switch to union, and is on the fringes of the England squad. Younger brother Logan, a team-mate of Sam's at Wigan, is in the second-string England Knights squad. Having spent most of the past two decades chauffeuring her three boys around, mother Alison can now reflect with pride on their achievements. "Yeah, she doesn't know who to watch now," Sam Tomkins says with a smile. She's pretty busy. I'll have all my family and a lot of my friends in Cardiff. I'm lucky that I've got a very supportive family and friends who will go to games wherever, whether I'm playing in London, Catalan, wherever it'll be. "I speak to Joel daily, so he'll probably be telling me "good luck" towards the back end of the week. He's in camp with the England team this week, so I think he's pretty busy himself. He's trying to get himself a spot against the Aussies, so we're very supportive of each other. I'm proud of what Joel's doing, and he's proud of what me and Logan are doing as well. It's a nice feeling. Moving to Auckland will mean leaving the clan behind. But a fresh start requires a clean break, and most of his possessions will be staying in Wigan. "I've not got anything to take," he says. I've shipped two cars, I'm just going to take a suitcase. That's all I've got. Besides, Tomkins is not really one for keepsakes. "I don't really take any memorabilia from games," he says. My mum keeps all my shirts, medals, rings, anything like that. All I collect is boots. I collect other players" boots. I've got a games room at home, and I've got Adrian Morley's boots from when he won his 50th cap, Thomas Leuluai's last Wigan boots, George Carmont's... But why boots? Cause everyone collects shirts, don't they? Despite his closeness to his family and loyalty to his team-mates, there is a resolutely independent streak to Tomkins, a yearning not to fit the mould. For all his achievements in the club game, signing off his Wigan career with the Challenge Cup-Super League double this season, he still classifies himself as an England player first and a club player second. "I'm very proud to be English," he says. That's why I want to be so successful. I've never won a major trophy with an England shirt. There's nothing that gets you up for a game like standing there and singing the national anthem with 16 of your mates. I'm immensely proud to pull the shirt on. Proud to pull the shirt on, just not that fussed about keeping it afterwards. But if he inspires England to World Cup glory next month, surely that will be one shirt he wants to keep? Possibly even to take with him to New Zealand, as a memento of his greatest triumph? "No," Tomkins replies with one last defiantly dry smirk. I'd probably just get off the plane with the medal around my neck!