Saints' Freeman eyes European final to cap magic year

He might not be the world's best at the card tricks he performs to entertain team-mates, but Tommy Freeman has certainly set the hearts of Northampton and England fans racing with some diamond performances on the rugby field.

It is hard to imagine how the past 12 months could have been better.

A member of the Saints team that beat Bath to win their first Premiership title for a decade last June, he followed that by becoming the first England player to score in every round of a Six Nations tournament.

And although Northampton's league campaign has not gone as planned, he grabbed a hat-trick against Clermont Auvergne and added another try against Castres to put them into the Investec Champions Cup semi-finals for the second year in a row.

All he needs now to cap a magic year is for Saints to deal a victorious hand against Leinster and reach the Champions Cup final and then be selected for the British & Irish Lions summer tour to Australia.

"It's every kid's dream in rugby, it's the top of the top - to be selected for that tour would be awesome," the 24-year-old told BBC Look East.

"The Premiership hasn't gone our way this year, but to stay in Europe and get to another semi-final shows what kind of team we can be.

"When we get our game right, it really is special and for the people around me, the grumpy mood swings they get hit with now and then will all be worth it if we can get to a final."

Epileptic episode was 'horrible'

Tommy Freeman made his Premiership debut for Northampton in 2020, aged 19

And yet it could all have been so different.

A late developer in terms of size, speed and strength, Freeman - a Harlequins supporter as a young boy - was rejected by Leicester Tigers as a teenager.

And at about the same time, he began to experience symptoms which eventually led to a full-blown epileptic episode when he was aged 19 and in his first year with Saints.

It says much about his determination and persistence that he has been able to overcome both setbacks and become one of the game's hottest properties.

"For me, it was horrible. Five seconds of going unconscious, then waking up and not knowing where you are," said Freeman, returning to the subject he first spoke about last autumn.

"But for your parents to witness the whole thing for 20-odd minutes, or however long it was, was really brutal - and probably seeing their kid's dreams fall apart right in front of their eyes was not good at all.

"I've got tablets to be on for the rest of my life. It's all about making good decisions, keeping your head in a good spot and not triggering it in any way."

Freeman has been touched by messages of support and conversations about epilepsy with fellow players following matches.

"Carry on doing the things you want to do and don't let something like that stop you," is his message.

"Obviously, everyone's epilepsy is different and can vary in severeness. It's a very complex disorder, but with the right kind of tutelage and making sure you take whatever tablet you're on, there's always light at the end of the tunnel," he added.

Saints need to start well in Dublin

Northampton were beaten by Leinster in last year's European Champions Cup semi-finals

Northampton last won a European trophy in 2014, when they lifted the Challenge Cup.

And it is 14 years since their last appearance in a European Champions Cup final, when they lost 33-22 to Leinster, a match in which current Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson scored their first try.

To reach the final again is going to require a special effort against the Irish side, who also beat Saints in last season's semi-finals.

"The main thing I learnt [from that] was that we need to start well. We had a pretty slow start 12 months ago and they got most of their points in that first 20 minutes. If you let players like that do the things they do, you're in for an uphill battle," Freeman said.

"The main thing for us is to start with our front foot down and shock them. They are pretty much Ireland with a few extra bits of talent. Playing at their home stadium as well, it's going to be like a Test match.

"We've got aspects of our game that hopefully puts them under a lot of pressure. They've got some big lads in that pack but if we can shift momentum, bring our game into it and play in the right areas, hopefully we can force some areas and create opportunities."

One of Freeman's great strengths which helps him be such a predatory finisher is an ability to be in the right place at the right time.

He puts that down to "picking up cues" from the body language of team-mates, having played in a number of different positions as a boy.

"It's something that comes quite natural to me," he added.

"There's lads here that can chuck a ball or put a kick on the money every time, so it's all about putting myself in the correct position and trusting your mates to put the ball where it needs to be."