Freeman eyeing Twickenham return for Saints

The Northampton Saints winger has quickly emerged as one of the rising stars in the national setup, and enjoyed his first taste of playing in front of a capacity Twickenham crowd - something he’s dreamt of since a young boy.

After playing his part in one of England’s most dramatic triumphs in recent years, Freeman knows exactly how it feels when the home of rugby reaches fever pitch, and he has an eye on a summer return in the Gallagher Premiership Rugby Final.

Thanks to nine wins from 12 matches Saints are top of the Premiership, and are aiming for a first final since they last won the title a decade ago.

"It means everything. Growing up as a kid, to play on the main stage is obviously the ultimate moment in your career," he said. "To do it in front of a crowd, like it was against Ireland, is brilliant. You’ve got moments in the game where they get behind you and they’re off their feet, you can really hear it.

"It does encourage you and gives you that little bit of energy as well which is awesome to be a part of. Having 80,000 people in the stadium - whether for club or country - makes a massive difference and I think we saw against Ireland, Twickenham at its best is a very special place to play and watch rugby."

Freeman grew up a Harlequins fan and his dad took him to a handful Big Games at Twickenham.

"Sitting in the crowd, I think the difference is huge, especially in those games. The fans were amazing," he added. "I definitely think being part of the experience, having that atmosphere and people next to you, it definitely adds to the experience and makes it that more special."

There is a long way to go but with another potential trip to Twickenham for Freeman - in club colours - the winger is laser focused on staying on track when domestic rugby gets back into full swing.

"Everything seems to be clicking for us. We’re excited to continue that, we don’t want to take our foot off the gas, we want to go about flying and carry on from where we left off.

"I think we’ve got every chance of really putting ourselves through a home semi-final and really pushing towards making it to the Premiership Final at Twickenham, which would be amazing.

"We understand the occasion. I think there were probably a few seasons where we were underdogs and a very young team. The focus for this year was to grab it and use that to our advantage, get the best performance out of us and have no excuses."