I could feel the emotion when he called me in Sainsbury’s!

Students, clubmates, housemates and now England team-mates, Dan Kelly and Freddie Steward are a double act ready for big stage

THEIR journey started in Block A of the Claudia Parsons halls at Loughborough University. Freddie Steward, an economics student from Norfolk, was allocated a room directly above Dan Kelly, who had moved down from Rochdale to study management.

As freshers, they would cross paths on their way to lecture halls, often dusting off the hangovers from fancy-dress parties. Eventually, they found themselves teaming up on the rugby pitch. They recall cold and muddy Wednesday afternoons playing together in the centres for the first XV in the BUCS league.

‘Leeds Beckett away. About minus one,’ recalls Steward.

‘We lost. Dished up by a load of Northerners. It was horrible,’ adds Kelly. Few could have predicted what was waiting around the corner.

‘If you’d come to our old house you’d have been in for a surprise,’ says Kelly, 21. ‘It was wild! My bedroom was right opposite the Griffin pub and you’d have students making a racket outside at 3am.’

Times have changed. An applescented candle flickers on the table of their open-plan dining room at their new home, on the peaceful outskirts of Leicester. They take a seat on their hand-me-down furnishings and begin to reflect on their remarkable rise to the England team.

‘This is Ellis Genge’s old sofa,’ says Steward, 22, spreading his long arms as he settles in.

‘We first played each other at school, Kirkham against Norwich, but Dan doesn’t remember me!’ adds Steward. ‘Dan wasn’t with Tigers to start with so we met at Loughborough and got pally before he joined Leicester.’

Sitting on one of Nemani Nadolo’s old dining chairs, Kelly reflects on his own journey since being released by Sale as an 18-year-old. ‘Back in the day, I played some rugby league, before I went to college. I played a bit in Halifax for Siddal and then for Oldham St Annes, which is Kyle Eastmond and George Ford’s old club.

‘I grew up in Rochdale and rugby took to me Kirkham Grammar, where I boarded. I went to Loughborough and now I’m here.’

Over the last 18 months their careers have taken off, swapping the campus rugby pitch for Twickenham Stadium. They won the Premiership with Leicester Tigers last season, becoming key components in Steve Borthwick and Kevin Sinfield’s title-winning side.

‘Steve and Kev work so well together,’ says Steward (right, on England duty). ‘The detail and precision in the game plans is phenomenal. As a player you feel so prepared in the week, it’s almost like the game has been played out.

‘When Steve first came in he got us to watch a basketball documentary about the Golden State basketball team. Then there was one about Cadiz FC. This tiny town that went all the way up to La Liga. We translated their message, “the fight is non-negotiable”.’

With Borthwick focused on the forwards, Sinfield worked more closely with the backs.

‘Coming from league, Kev was pretty new to union, but his depth of knowledge is outstanding,’ says Kelly. ‘You just want to play for him.’

Taking a tangent, they reminisce about their roots and a recent trip to the north Norfolk coast for Jack van Poortvliet’s birthday. The scrum-half lives 100 yards down the road, sharing a house with Ollie Chessum and Cameron Henderson. They dash back and forth, playing darts tournaments in the garage during their downtime.

‘We get food poisoning if we go round there for dinner!’ says Kelly. ‘There’s a big Leicester contingent from Norfolk. It’s lovely there, you could get really comfortable. We played a football game on the beach, 10 of us. We got to drive all these tractors, I nearly threw Ollie Chessum off the back of one. It was a bit of a different scene for me. Not many fields in Rochdale.’

Full of youthful energy, they are now ready for a reunion with Borthwick and Sinfield in the national colours. They received the phone call a fortnight ago, telling them they were part of the newlook England setup.

‘I woke up on the Sunday and had two missed calls from Steve,’ says Steward. ‘We had a good lie-in, didn’t we? I rang him back and he told me I was in, then I bolted upstairs to DK to ask if he’d had a call and he said “No”. He was upset for about half an hour.

Kelly continues: ‘He’d rang you, JVP, Ches. You left to go to Sainsbury’s and that’s when he called me. It was a happy household. I rang my mum first and she was crying.’

With a clean coaching slate, they have the rugby world at their feet. Steward already has 17 England caps, while Kelly is playing catchup after his early progress was held back by injury.

With the midfield being one of the most debated areas, Kelly offers an abrasive and hard-working option in the No 12 jersey.

‘Dan’s not had it easy the last couple of months,’ says Steward. ‘He battled through the university system to get a professional contract and that says a lot about him. He doesn’t quit when it gets tough. I could see how much it means to him and his family when he called me in Sainsbury’s.’

Offering up one final moment of reflection, Kelly adds: ‘Sometimes we get guilty of always looking ahead. It opens your eyes when you sit down and talk about it like this. We’ve been there for each other and it’s been bloody enjoyable.’

Conversation turns back to life at Loughborough as they pose for photographs. ‘You should wear your Rocky dressing gown,’ says Steward. ‘Only if you wear Ivan Drago!’ replies Kelly, fetching his gown. They have already picked up a few souvenirs along the way, and there will be many more to come.