"Tour with your mates" - Northampton wing Tommy Freeman is living his Lions dream with Saints brothers

In a video which broke the internet, a sofa of Saints brothers watched on with baited breath, as their names were slowly but surely announced for the tour. Incredible scenes followed, as the Northampton quartet were each mobbed by their selfless teammates Fraser Dingwall, George Furbank and Immanuel Iyogun, with the jublient scenes heard all across all corners of the East Midlands.

Reality is now just sinking in for Freeman, who joins the wing contingency with Ireland's James Lowe and Mack Hansen and Scotland's Duhan van der Merwe. Freeman said how he was on "cloud nine" when the squad was announced, with the moment made all the better alongside his Northampton teammates.

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"Cloud nine. Very happy. I can't really say much else to be honest. It's all still sinking in. There’s been loads of messages coming through and it's just a bit of a whirlwind to be honest." Freeman said, in a recent Northampton Saints media session following the squad announcement.

"It's awesome to see four of your mates in the same spot and achieving the same goals. It’s really special. I think that's obviously a testament to the people here at Saints and how we've done this season. I know in the Premiership, we probably want to do a bit better, but in Europe the position we've got ourselves in with the boys we have here is really special. To go on a British and Irish Lions tour with your mates and as many as four of us is really special.

"I thought that the chances were up there, but you just never know until your name's read out. You see messages across platforms and social media and stuff and it gives you a bit of confidence and you ask yourselves questions and things like that especially after the weekend and then when you are sat there waiting for 30 minutes for them to read it out, you just question everything - what if, what if. It was just relief when I saw my name to be honest and I’m really happy."

"It was awesome. The lads who were gutted to have not got picked were brilliant. I think everyone was pretty brilliant in getting on top of each other and getting pummeled to be honest. It was special. You do it with your mates that you see every single day in training and off the pitch as well so for them to share the experience with you and be as supportive was really good."

Whilst 24-year-old Tommy Freeman is achieving his Lions dreams at such an early age, the significance of his career infancy is vastly overshadowed by his Saints teammate Henry Pollock. At just 20-years-old, Pollock's inclusion upon the tour is a stunning revelation of how Andy Farrell will pull confidently pull the trigger on a break-through talent, who's been taking the Saints by storm.

Pollock's inclusion has split the Lions fan base, given how he has played less than a half of Test match rugby ahead of his inclusion in the squad. Pollock's sole England cap to date came off the bench against Wales, in the final round of the 2025 Guinness Men's Six Nations. However, with two tries to his name from his England 'cameo', Pollock certainly knows how to maximize the minutes, which Freeman can't help but sit back and admire.

“He’s getting so much (attenion), guys, honestly. Give it to someone else!" Freeman joked. "He’s got all these followers, he’s just nailing it, isn’t he? It’s unbelievable. He’s one hell of a character. You just want to give him sh*t, but you can’t. Until he plays really crap, you can’t!

"He’s just a legend. I just hope it continues and he keeps doing this thing, strutting about the way he does. I do think rugby needs it. I’m not saying it’s (rugby) in a bad spot, but it needs characters. It needs people to [bring] interest. There are Pollock headbands going for sale and, yeah, you need that.”

Whilst Pollock and Freeman are amongst the cohort of Lions newcomers that are gunning for their first experience of the red jersey, former tourists have reached out to Freeman and congratulate the wing upon the achievement. Freeman expressed how Lions and Wales legend Jamie Roberts got in touch, in what was a moving movement following an exhaustive wait for the news.

"Jamie Roberts got in touch and was very complimentary. He said these tours are awesome and unbelievable to be a part of and you can create some very special memories. It was pretty special for a legend like him to get in touch."

Freeman then opened up as to how he is his own harshest critic. Despite becoming the first England player to score a try in every round of the Guinness Men's Six Nations, and leading Northampton to the Champions Cup Final - including a semi-final hat-trick against Leinster, Freeman had doubts as to whether he'd done enough to make the Lions squad. It's a trait he's inherited from his parents, which has since done a full '180', as Freeman's folks insist to him that he is having a star-making career patch.

“It is more with family, they're quite good at sitting (me) down. Mum would watch the game live, listen to it on the radio then watch it when she gets home so she will really debrief me when I need it. It has been a pretty awesome season but at the start, during the autumn, I couldn’t get over the whitewash and I was a winger who hadn’t scored at Twickenham and hadn’t scored many tries.

"When the first one came they all followed which was pretty good. For me, tries, obviously as a winger you want to get over the line, but I am equally as happy setting up a try as well scoring them. I am always hungry for the next thing and want to be striving to do whatever I can for the following week.

"You do get into that mentality of each week rolls into another week. It is good for the family to pick you up and say ‘hang on Tommy, you are actually doing the right thing’ because I am pretty hard on myself and Mum hates that about me. They are appreciating ride we are having and want it to carry on. In the summer we will appreciate it with some beers I am sure."

“When I was growing up it was completely the other way. I thought I had it and it was Mum who was completely on top of me and Dad saying ‘your tackling is not good enough and this that and the other’. And as I have played more and more it has completely flipped on its head and they think I have had a really good game and I have come off and said that was terrible or I scored but I did this really bad or this really bad . it is good I am so critical but it something I go after.

"I want to put myself at a level and a standard where I know can play each week. It will hold me up there and if I do have a bad game and everyone thinks it was all right then ok it wasn’t as bad as I thought and I will look at it a bit differently. Scoring three tries against Leinster is always gong to be a highlight. It is just where I hold myself."

Whilst getting the call for the Lions is an incredible achievement for any player's season, the work is not done for Freeman in green, black and gold. Northampton have the Champions Cup title in their sights, with a clash with Bordeaux-Begles booked in for the Final, at Cardiff's Principality Stadium.

"After the announcement, to be honest the body feels fresh and ready to go. I’m just really excited with all of that. I’ve obviously played quite a bit, but the body's still feeling good. I think when I have breaks, that's when my body starts to crumble a bit so hopefully I can keep the body ticking over and have a good summer."

"Nothing’s different. We'll go into it with the same mindset of getting our game on that pitch and stressing their defences. We're going for it. With the Prem as well, it's going to be difficult, but we'll see what we can do with giving ourselves some sort of top four chance if we can and go from there. Every team we put out, we'll be putting our game on the park and hopefully we come away with some silverware."