
Tommy Freeman reveals his Lions dream has proved costly after pledge to parents
It was during that tour he pledged to fly his mum and dad – Sara and Cliff – Down Under in business class if he were to return with the elite of British and Irish rugby.
Our line up for Saturday's first Test! 👊🦁#Lions2025
— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) July 17, 2025
'My parents came to Australia in 2022. It was very last minute because I didn't think I was going to play out here, so I told them not to come,' Freeman said.
'I eventually got selected and then they flew out. It was last minute so I told them that if I get picked for the Lions I would pay for their business class seats, which has backfired!'
Freeman believes his selection against the Wallabies has provided his parents with a welcome lift following an accident which happened while following the Lions around Australia.
'I gave them a ring and they are having troubles of their own. Mum has just broken her foot so she has had surgery in Adelaide,' he said.
'They were travelling from Canberra to Adelaide and thought they would drive it so they pulled over and got some photos….
'It has not gone well on that front so a bit of good news for them was good. Mum's main concern was being fit enough to fly to get here in time.
'They were obviously delighted and all the travelling miles they have put in for me has paid off.
'It's amazing to be able to give back because I am not that pleasant to be around on game day with the nerves. I can be a bit grumpy, so for it all to pay off with moments like this is extra special.'
Freeman ran in 15 tries in 12 matches coming into the Lions tour and has fulfilled expectations by nailing down a Test spot with his roaming threat and ability in the air winning the approval of head coach Andy Farrell.
'It's not like the olden days when you have speed on the wings and you just kind of stay on your wing,' said the 24-year-old, who also covers outside centre.
'I want to find the ball as much as possible and playing in the midfield has helped with finding cues where I can pop up in spaces. I want to have an impact.'

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Glasgow Times
26 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Andy Farrell and Joe Schmidt disagree over ref call as Lions clinch series win
The Lions clinched a 29-26 victory in the second Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground but there was high drama in the closing seconds as the match officials examined a potentially-dangerous clearout by Jac Morgan earlier in the move. Captains Harry Wilson and Maro Itoje attempted to influence referee Andrea Piardi during the decision-making process before it was eventually judged that Morgan's contact with Carlo Tizzano was legal. Full time scenes in Melbourne 🥹🦁#Lions2025 — British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) July 26, 2025 If Keenan's try had been chalked off, the series would have gone to a decider in Sydney next Saturday. Instead, the Lions have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead. 'It was a brilliant clearout. I couldn't understand what they were going back for,' Lions head coach Farrell said. 'They seem to go back for absolutely everything these days, don't they? I'm so pleased that the referee held his nerve. The right decision in my opinion.' Furious Australia boss Schmidt felt the outcome reached by Piardi was at odds with the game's push to improve player safety and accused the Italian of failing to implement the laws. Dan Sheehan crossed over for the Lions' opening try (David Davies/PA) 'Just watch the footage,' said Schmidt, who insisted the incident taking place in the final minute influenced the verdict. 'You just have to read law 9.20 and you just have to listen to the description from the referee and then watch the footage when two players are described as arriving at the same time. 'You cannot hit someone above the levels of the shoulders and there's no bind with the left arm, his hand is on the ground. That's what we have seen. 'We have watched a number of replays from different angles so it is what it is. We just have to accept it. 'Players make errors. Match officials make errors. Our perspective is we felt it was a decision that doesn't really live up to the big player safety push that they are talking about. Schmidt also placed a spotlight on Dan Sheehan's 16th-minute try when he took a quick tap penalty and crossed the whitewash by launching himself into the air. The try was allowed to stand because he dived while in the act of scoring, but Schmidt insisted the fact he was airborne made him virtually impossible to stop. 'World Rugby are trying to make sure that we are tackling lower and so we had two tacklers going in to tackle low – and he dived and scored,' the Kiwi said. 'He is pretty much head first so what do we do to stop him scoring apart from stopping his head? There's not much else you can do.' Farrell declared that winning the series is 'what dreams are made of', while Itoje targeted a whitewash of the Wallabies. 'When we first met, big Faz made the call. He wanted us to come here and win everything,' Itoje said. 'So don't get me wrong, we're absolutely delighted with the result, but we want to go again next weekend.'


Telegraph
27 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Australian rugby is saved, they should keep next Lions tour
If those organising this year's Lions tour to Australia had sat down and sketched out their dream second Test, it would not have been too far off what we saw at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday. They would have wanted a citadel, they would have wanted over 90,000 people - with roughly half of that travelling, Home Nations support - and they would have wanted the dramatic finale, with the series on the line. If you were scripting the perfect match, I'm not sure what else you would have included before critics accused you of being too Hollywood. The MCG was, quite frankly, an amazing venue for a Test of such calibre. An incredible atmosphere; and the match had everything. In one Melbourne evening, Australia proved that it is still a valid and viable location for a Lions tour, despite Union's struggles in the country. Saturday was totally different to Brisbane, which was in part down to how things transpired on the field. The atmosphere had a real edge. If we could have three Tests exactly like Saturday then we're back here in a heartbeat. Where do I sign? Pre-match, I was at an event at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and there were fans almost banging the door down to get in, almost like a zombie apocalypse, to hear the thoughts of Lions legends like Martin Johnson and Alun Wyn Jones over a pint. All roads had been leading to the MCG and the appetite was huge. Everyone was loving Australia. Second Tests in Lions series are just special. The Lions were chasing shadows but they found a way to get back into it. The final try from Hugo Keenan was one of those moments where you were just glad you were there. In fact, the whole game was one that you were just proud you could say you were at. HUGO KEENAN WINS IT FOR THE LIONS! 🦁 — Sky Sports (@SkySports) July 26, 2025 You always want your team to win but when your team wins with drama it is the Holy Grail of sport. Authentic, organic, unscripted sporting drama. If Manchester City had beaten Queens Park Rangers 5-0 then we'd never remember 'Aguerooooooo'; and the same could be said for plenty of iconic sporting moments. What about Jonny's drop-goal, the 2019 Cricket World Cup final super over? What if Federer-Nadal at Wimbledon in 2008 had been over in three sets? Chatting to the Lions players after - I spoke to five or six on television - they all said they never thought they would lose, and I believe that. That's the leadership from Andy Farrell - play big, stay strong - the direction on the field, a physically tough set of lads, and then the tip of the spear, the finer details; Finn Russell's offload to Blair Kinghorn to keep playing at the end, with the game in the balance, and Keenan's effort to clean out the ruck before himself becoming the hero. Crucial moments. After I had finished chatting to them, with the final whistle having gone at 10pm, the Lions players came out onto the field with a load of plastic chairs to have a little sing-song. That was at 11.30pm local time. Keenan then recreated his winning moment in his socks, beer in hand. I suggested he should have got a spade and dug up his little bit of the turf but Collingwood have a massive AFL game next weekend and the groundspeople probably would have throttled me! The Wallabies did their country proud, too; they were awesome. They absolutely ripped the Lions apart in the first half and were well deserving of their 23-5 lead. The issue for the hosts was that that counts for little if it ends up as 23-17 at half-time, as it did. But Australia showed they could play, they could carry, they could rip you apart and they could also go the length from the restart. Will Skelton was big, Rob Valetini was extraordinary. I'm assuming he picked up a knock because he looked like he would be player of the match by half time. The Lions were more clinical. And credit must go to referee Andrea Piardi and his officials for getting both the Dan Sheehan and Jac Morgan decisions correct. You can dive in the act of scoring - and that's what Sheehan did - but you cannot jump a tackle, like Welshman Blair Murray did in the Six Nations. In any case, the Wallabies defenders had their heads down, their chins down for Sheehan; they should have had greater awareness. The Morgan incident did not even need looking at. It was a brilliant clean-out; I've watched it 50 times. Whatever lens you view it through, I don't see how you give that as a pen. I've spoken to Johnno and Warren Gatland - they both agreed. I've not come across anyone who has said Morgan was lucky. In Melbourne the series came alive but ironically it also died. That is the thing with Lions tours; in eight days it is done. Four more years now - and 12 for the Wallabies. But selection for the third Test in Sydney will be fascinating. I think Farrell will be tempted by fresh legs. There has been a massive collective effort with some huge impacts for those who played both Tests. We are told selection was nip and tuck. I could see five or six changes, rotating out the guys who are spent. The data will inform them. For Australia, the issue is that a fortnight after the third Test they face South Africa in Ellis Park, in the opening round of the Rugby Championship. Does that come into play? There are arguments for both Farrell and Joe Schmidt sending out a full-metal jacket team, with one looking for 3-0 and the other looking to salvage some pride, in the country's showcase rugby event. But Joe might think about saving some of his big guns, especially those with niggles, for the Rugby Championship, with the series done. Farrell might also think of doing the same.

Rhyl Journal
30 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
Lando Norris edges out McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri to claim pole in Belgium
Norris finished third, a place behind McLaren team-mate Piastri in the earlier sprint race at Spa-Francorchamps, but the British driver bounced back to secure his second pole in three races. Charles Leclerc took third for Ferrari but team-mate Lewis Hamilton's weekend took another nightmare twist after he qualified only 16th. LANDO NORRIS TAKES POLE AT SPA!!! 🤩 Oscar Piastri finishes just behind his team mate while Charles Leclerc is third quickest 👏#F1 #BelgianGP — Formula 1 (@F1) July 26, 2025 Max Verstappen – who won the first Formula One race staged following Christian Horner's dismissal as Red Bull team principal in Saturday's 15-lap dash – was fourth, one position clear of Williams' Alex Albon, with George Russell sixth for Mercedes. Piastri extended his championship advantage over Norris from eight points to nine and appeared to hold the upper hand over his team-mate heading into qualifying. However, Norris delivered with his first lap of Q3 to hold a near two-tenth advantage over Piastri heading into the concluding runs and – although he failed to improve, and Piastri did – it was enough to take first place as he looks to build on his wins in Austria and Silverstone. Norris qualified six tenths behind Piastri in Friday's qualifying and he said: 'Everyone was quite worried after yesterday. But I was always confident, so it is nice to get back on top. 'The car has been flying all weekend and Oscar and I have been pushing each other a lot. You can see each other's strengths and weaknesses (on the shared team data) so that makes it a tough battle.' Rain is forecast for Sunday's 44-lap race, and Norris continued: 'I prefer it to stay dry. But I don't mind if it is wet, or dry, or somewhere in the middle. I just hope it is an exciting race.' Hamilton, who started 18th and finished 15th in the earlier sprint race earlier, was eliminated in Q1 for Sunday's main event after his best lap was chalked off by the stewards. The Briton thought he had done enough to haul his Ferrari into the next phase of qualifying when he posted the seventh best time. But moments later, his lap was deleted after he was adjudged to have run all four wheels of his Ferrari off the circuit at Raidillon. That dropped him way down the order. 'Is everything OK?' Hamilton asked on the radio. 'Track limits,' replied Hamilton's race engineer, Ricardo Adami. 'Am I out?' Hamilton replied. 'Lap time is deleted, P16,' came the response. There was no response from the 40-year-old who is left to reflect on another sobering result of his difficult start to life at Ferrari. Hamilton, who spun in qualifying for the sprint, enters Sunday's race without a podium for Ferrari – the deepest he has gone into a season in his career without a top-three finish. Hamilton's replacement at Mercedes, Kimi Antonelli, also failed to emerge from Q1 and will start 18th, with both Aston Martins on the final row of the grid following a dismal qualifying session for the British team. Fernando Alonso will line up from 19th, with team-mate Lance Stroll 20th and last. Ollie Bearman finished an impressive seventh in the sprint, but then qualified 12th as he complained the start of his final lap was compromised by Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda.