Northampton’s Tommy Freeman: ‘I’m knocking on England’s door and that’s all I can do’

Versatility can be a double-edged sword for emerging youngsters but when Northampton’s director of rugby, Chris Boyd, waxes lyrical about the number of positions in which Tommy Freeman could play, he captures a large part of why Eddie Jones has taken such a liking to the Saints flyer.

In his fledgling career to date, the 21-year-old Freeman has proved himself equally at home on the wing or at full-back and after an untimely injury in January he has hit his straps again, running in four tries in six matches, including eye-catching efforts in the miraculous comeback at Bath and the thrilling win over Harlequins.

Related: Eddie Jones urges Henry Arundell to earn place in England’s World Cup squad

Intriguingly, the England management potentially sees a future at outside-centre and though he is still to win a first cap he has been on Jones’s radar since the 2019-20 season. “A big, strong, strapping lad with good pace and a good feel for the game,” says Jones, and you sense that game awareness comes from the fact he avoided being pigeonholed too early in his development. As Boyd explains: “Tommy played a lot of his rugby at a non-rugby school as a fly-half. I think he could play anywhere in the backs apart from half-back. I don’t know where the ceiling is but potentially it’s high.”

Big and strapping have not always been words to describe Freeman, however. He has made the seamless transition from the Saints academy to mainstay of their push for the playoffs but Jones likes players who have taken the road less travelled and Freeman has already overcome adversity. Released by Leicester at 16 – “I didn’t hit a growth spurt like a lot of the other boys” – he moved from Culford school in Bury St Edmunds to Moulton College in