{"id":433988,"date":"2026-01-24T07:45:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T07:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/433988\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T07:45:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T07:45:26","slug":"thinking-a-lot-less-tommy-freeman-on-the-secret-to-international-rugby-northampton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/433988\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Thinking a lot less\u2019: Tommy Freeman on the secret to international rugby | Northampton"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tommy Freeman is known for being multitalented, so it is fitting that he arrives brandishing a golf club. Thankfully none of the ensuing questions provoke its use in a non-sporting capacity. The Northampton<\/a> back\u2019s handicap will have to wait, because after a trip to Sale on Saturday he will dive into England\u2019s Six Nations camp, surfacing in mid-March after the concluding fixture in Paris.<\/p>\n

Les Bleus are the tournament favourites but if Steve Borthwick\u2019s team stay on an upward curve \u2013 they have won 11 consecutive Tests<\/a> \u2013 there is a decent chance that encounter at the Stade de France in seven weeks\u2019 time will decide the title. An expansive Saints side also top the Prem before round 10, and the ever-improving Freeman personifies the prevailing effervescence of club and country.<\/p>\n

By his own admission he was not quite ready for international rugby when first called on by Eddie Jones in 2022<\/a> but now Freeman\u2019s blend of skills \u2013 prodigious strength, pace, ball-handling, work rate, adaptability and game intelligence \u2013 makes him a true Test-match animal.<\/p>\n

Andy Farrell clearly thinks so: Freeman started all three British & Irish Lions Tests in Australia last summer.<\/p>\n

At only 24 he now talks of the \u201cyoung boys\u201d such as Edoardo Todaro emerging in the buoyant Saints squad. If a callow Freeman was not primed for Test rugby four years ago, you wonder what he has gleaned about performing at the highest level since.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s to do with thinking a lot less,\u201d he says. \u201cYou can go in and want to try and impress the coaches, to get your hands on the ball. When you\u2019ve got that mentality sometimes you get a bit lost because you\u2019re chasing the ball\u00a0everywhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I know the ball\u2019s going to come and I just play rugby. You need to relax and do what you do at your club. Yes, it\u2019s big pressure, yes, it\u2019s 80,000 people watching, but at the end of the day it\u2019s just rugby. The sooner you pick that up the better it is for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

By defeating Scarlets last Sunday Northampton secured a home Champions Cup knockout tie against Castres, but they were made to work hard, with Freeman having a relatively quiet day at outside-centre. He was obliged to stay patient and disciplined against dangerous opponents, which is bound to apply even more during the Six Nations.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt 13, sometimes you don\u2019t get as many opportunities,\u201d says Freeman, who can also cover full\u2011back but has played most of his senior rugby on the wing. \u201cWhen they come you\u2019ve got to make the most of them. There\u2019s some cues I\u2019ve picked up \u2013 foot speed, control \u2013 that you\u2019ve got to look out for. It\u2019s not just as easy as running off shoulders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tommy Freeman celebrates after Elliot Daly\u2019s match-winning try against France last February. Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

England soon fly to Girona for warm-weather training before installing themselves at Pennyhill Park in Surrey for the tournament. Given the recent run of victories under Borthwick, the players are clearly buzzing, and for Freeman continuity of selection is a\u00a0significant bonus.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great squad,\u201d he says. \u201cThe same faces, which is always good. You\u2019re around similar people, playing what you\u2019re used to, and really getting to know the connections with those players.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an awesome place to go with the facilities and everything: it\u2019s the top of the top and you\u2019re with the best players in the country. Something England have improved massively from when I first went in is the ability to switch off: things are going on, darts and bits and pieces. I can\u2019t wait.\u201d<\/p>\n

England have played some attractive rugby of late although they place considerably more emphasis on tactical kicking than Northampton do. Is it fair to suggest that, while Saints run the ball from anywhere, Borthwick\u2019s side aim to play in the opposition\u2019s half?<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say that,\u201d Freeman says. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to think risk-reward. We want to play heads-up rugby with England \u2013 we want to move the ball and play at our edge if we need to. We want the quickest and best way to get out of our half to put pressure on.<\/p>\n

Tommy Freeman runs in to score against Wales in Cardiff last year. Photograph: Ashley Western\/Colorsport\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

\u201cIf that\u2019s through a competitive kick in the air, if that\u2019s going long and getting a good chase, or playing out the back and kicking from an edge, it\u2019s whatever suits best.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Northampton\u2019s evening kick-off at Sale the Prem goes into hibernation until late March. While Phil Dowson\u2019s side intend to stay top, seventh-placed Sale are desperate to give themselves a chance of the playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re a physical bunch and we haven\u2019t won there for a while so we\u2019ve got a big challenge,\u201d Freeman says. \u201cIn terms of the way they\u2019re going in the Prem, I think this game\u2019s pretty big for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Freeman-inspired Northampton may resume the domestic season top of the pile in two months but the Six Nations \u2013 a key staging post before next year\u2019s Rugby World Cup \u2013 will soon be his sole focus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tommy Freeman is known for being multitalented, so it is fitting that he arrives brandishing a golf club.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":433989,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-433988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=433988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/433989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=433988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=433988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=433988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}