Denny Solomona’s rugby union career is only 18 months old but it has, to put it mildly, been eventful. He has scored 21 tries in 28 Premiership matches for Sale after terminating his contract with rugby league’s Castleford, which cost the Sharks a reported £300,000 in compensation and legal fees, marked his debut for England in Argentina last year with the winning try in the first Test, was sent home from a national training camp two months later in disgrace after a late‑night drinking session with Manu Tuilagi and missed the final month of this season while he served a ban for allegedly making a homophobic remark to the Worcester fly-half Jamie Shillcock.

The 24-year-old wing, who was capped by Samoa in rugby league, has been in Brighton with England this past week, preparing for next Sunday’s friendly against the Barbarians at Twickenham before the three-Test tour to South Africa.

“I want to put the ban behind me and focus on England,” he says. “I was with the squad throughout the Six Nations so I have been in the mix and I used my time off to prepare myself for the next few weeks.”

After making two appearances from the bench in Argentina, Solomona was part of this year’s Six Nations squad without making a match-day 23 but with Anthony Watson and Jack Nowell not touring because of injury, he is in contention for a starting berth.

“The door is open for me and it is exciting,” says Solomona. “We focused on unity in Brighton, being together as a team.

“We took that for granted and let it slide a tiny bit but we all mixed together: when you go for a coffee, it is not just with the people you usually hang around with but players from different clubs to make sure you are all on the same page. If you are tight off the field it brings you together on it. Everyone is mixing and putting their best foot forward. We played mini golf one morning.”

When Solomona was charged with allegedly aiming homophobic abuse at Shillcock in March, he faced a suspension that would have ruled him out of the tour. With nothing picked up on the referee’s microphone, Sale did not appeal against the four-week suspension handed out by a disciplinary panel, not least because of the potential for a longer ban, but they maintained his innocence.

“It was one person’s word against mine,” says Solomona. “I’ve served my four weeks, that’s it. I was hoping that my performances throughout the season would have been enough to get me back into the England camp and I am happy to get the opportunity.”

Eddie Jones wasted no time in selecting the New Zealand-born Solomona once he had qualified for England on residency last summer, before the pending rule change that will extend the period from three to five years. “I’m Samoan and when I played for them in rugby league, I felt it was necessary to represent my grandparents and my heritage,” says the wing. “Now I am focusing on England and I love it. I have bought a house here, I am married to an English woman and I am setting roots.

“I have not found the transition from league bad because when I was in Auckland I played union on a Saturday and league the next day – I think my parents wanted to get me out of the house as much as I could. The England coaches text me regularly and Sale is a club which is all about everyone helping each other out. I am just soaking up all the knowledge.”

Solomona is likely to be facing one of his Sale team-mates in South Africa, the scrum-half Faf de Klerk, as the new Springboks’ regime under Rassie Erasmus looks to overturn two poor years by lifting sanctions on players based overseas who have not won at least 30 caps.

“Faf brings a lot of energy,” said Solomona. “I don’t think I have known him to be quiet for one minute. If he is called up by South Africa, he deserves it. It will be my first time in the country and I just want to get my hands on the ball and start doing what I need to under Eddie. People have talked about the different conditions there, but that doesn’t matter. We’re not bothered if the ground is hard or wet, we just get on with it.”

Jones will be using a humidifier in England’s indoor training facility before the squad leave for South Africa to prepare the players not so much for next month as next year’s World Cup in Japan when conditions may be hot and humid. The temperature will be 30C, but it will not come as a shock to Solomona.

“I know what is coming because I was with Melbourne Storm when they used one. It was fine. The concept is to break the mould, to make you feel uncomfortable because you never know what will happen on a rugby pitch.

“You have to expect everything. Eddie has been focusing on the little details we need to get right. It’s been pretty good; I don’t know if he has been too kind.”