13 hours ago
Freeman looks to North for inspiration ahead of Lions' trip Down Under
Tommy Freeman was a 12-year-old kid still learning his rugby apprenticeship at the remote Culford School in Sussex when George North rampaged his way around Australia and etched his name into the padded pages of British and Irish Lions history.
It started at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, in the first Test against the Wallabies, when the Welsh wing blitzed his way from the tourists' own 10m line, beat four players and wagged his finger at a flailing Will Genia before touching down.
'If I could do what he did it would be pretty good,' said Freeman who will join Scotland's Duhan van der Merwe and England counterpart Marcus Smith in an exciting Lions back three against Argentina in Dublin on Friday night.
North didn't stop there in 2013. A week later and he was picking Israel Folau up and carrying him like a dumper truck would a pile of sand while ploughing ahead with the ball. Seven days later and he scored again as the Lions sealed a 2-1 series victory.
Of all the players Freeman could have chosen when asked for his formative Lions memories, none seem so relevant given North, like Freeman now, was a Northampton Saints player at the time and a guy who could put in a hell of a shift at centre if required.
'For him it was similar to me with the size. I don't think he was looked at as a centre, it was 'if he could have a go and try it', and he happened to be pretty handy there. There are probably similar aspects to our games and when he was flying he was pretty unstoppable and pretty awesome to watch.
'There are definitely bits of the game but he could back it up as well. The game has changed massively. You have got the out and out wingers who stay out on their wings and run pretty fast and chase pretty hard whereas now it is just a centre playing on the wing these days, I would say.'
Chris Boyd, the former Saints director of rugby who worked with Munster as a consultant last season, once said that Freeman could operate anywhere along a back line apart from No.10. He's clearly a handy man to have around right now.
The player himself has spoken about the advantages that come with being able to slot into different roles and how this allows him to be a better teammate for those around him. Impress your peers, Andy Farrell has said. He's well poised to do that.
There are others who bring versatility to the table but, when it comes to the two wing positions, it is Freeman, van der Merwe and the Irish pair of Mack Hansen and James Lowe who will be jostling for the starts come the first Wallaby Test in Brisbane.
The Irish pair has the benefit of so much face time with Farrell and so many of the Lions coaching staff, but Freeman has built up an eye-catching body of work with his club and with England where his poaching instincts are only part of the package.
Pace, power, fancy feet, and height
Still only 24, he boasts pace, power, fancy feet, and height. Some of his assists have been more spectacular than his tries and there is ample evidence of a relish for the defensive game in the form of some thundering and critical tackles.
This is a player who has overcome adversity too. Diagnosed with epilepsy as a kid, he was rejected by Leicester Tigers aged 16 and before a growth spurt that took him to 6' 2'. Eddie Jones took him off at half-time in his last game with England.
And it's less than two years since he failed to make the World Cup.
Freeman's Dublin audition won't be hurt by the presence of eight other Englishman in the first XV, and the fact that he will be operating off a half-back axis of Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith that he knows so well from their experiences together at Franklin's Gardens.
That sort of in-built understanding has the potential to paper over what are sure to be some cracks in the early stages of this Lions operation with Freeman serving notice of a commitment to play some heads-up rugby now and in the weeks to come.
"The intention, he says plainly of the approach, is to score lots of tries.
'Instinctive playing. We're not going to be there to set stuff up and go through phases for the sake of going through phases. We went to score off the back of anything we can.
'The guys we've got in the backline, there are threats people have to offer and the ball players can put us in those spaces. It's going to be a lot of fun and dangerous.'
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