Ben Spencer, looking a little weary and surprised by his surroundings, smiles and says: “I don’t quite have a Stephen Donald story — you know, on a boat, fishing.”
The Saracens scrum-half has been in Japan since Monday and it has, in his words, been a “mental” week that will end on the bench in the World Cup Final.
He is right that his tale is not quite as comical as that of fly-half Donald, who came off the bench in the final eight years ago to kick the winning penalty for New Zealand against France.
He, famously, had been fishing for whitebait on the Waikato River and sinking beers when he received the call.
On Saturday, having watched England beat the All Blacks, Spencer was at home, feeding his two children, when England's logistics guru Charlotte Gibbons called and asked him to head east.
He had been preparing to face Leicester on Sunday but, when he saw Willi Heinz pick up an injury late in the game, he sensed something might be afoot. By the time Sarries played, he was airborne.
It has not quite sunk in yet. “I was chatting to one of the lads and saying that I’ve not really had the chance to process the whole situation yet,” he said in Tokyo on Thursday morning.
“It’s been a crazy few days, and a brilliant few days. I’ve loved getting back in with the squad. It’s just been mental, really.
“Obviously, it was huge disappointment not making the original squad. Eddie [Jones] said to the guys who weren’t in that anything can happen and the lads had to be ready.
"He spoke about being in the best condition of your life and I’ve worked hard at the club since I’ve been back there.”
England attack coach Scott Wisemantel described it as a “no-brainer” to call up Spencer, who trained plenty with Jones’s squad over the summer, so has found himself up to speed quickly, for Heinz.
“We monitor what the players are doing, we watch all their rugby,” said Wisemantel.
“The thing about Benny is that with Saracens he is scoring tries, his bread-and-butter work — his passing and kicking — is excellent, so there’s no problems there and the other thing is he is extremely fit.”
Last words to Spencer: “It’s every kid’s dream to play in a World Cup Final. For me to be out here and hopefully [for it to happen] on Saturday is amazing.”
