Tommy Freeman’s four-try haul inspired Northampton Saints to a 43-31 victory over Saracens on Friday night, with the result seeing Saints remain unbeaten at the top of the Gallagher PREM after five rounds.
The 24-year-old winger crossed once before the break – as well as teammates George Hendy and Tom Pearson (2) – before adding a second-half hat-trick to earn himself the Player of the Match medal.
And while the winger’s finishing sent him home with the plaudits, Freeman was quick to commend Saints’ system that puts him in the space he needs to create moments of magic – as well as paying credit to Northampton half-backs Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith for their role in his scores.
“It’s so fun!” Freeman said of Northampton’s approach to rugby.
“Being on the wing and popping up in spaces where you’ve got the likes of Mitch and Fin controlling the ship – it’s pretty special to be around those boys.
“Hutch [Rory Hutchinson] mentioned it in the week that we just want to play fast and get our game on the pitch.
“Saracens are a great team and they came at our breakdown to slow it down, but we knew if we got quick ball, we’d have some good opportunities.
“It was the top of the table, one and two, so it was a huge game, and I’m glad we got the result.”
Saints made life hard for themselves just before the interval at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens, when Pearson was shown a yellow card for the team’s lack of discipline after a series of eight consecutive penalties proved too many for referee Anthony Woodthorpe.
Saracens had got themselves ahead on the scoreboard while Saints were down a man, but Freeman proved to be the catalyst of Northampton’s fightback and was ultimately pleased to see his side continue to improve their performances week on week.
“There was a little bit of ill-discipline and a loss of concentration,” Freeman said.
“With it being the start of the season, we were a bit rusty and we had a split week as well.
“It was a mixture of all that and obviously discipline killed us a bit last week but this was a big improvement and we’ll look to kick on.”
It is to England that Freeman will now turn his focus, as the winger is one of six Saints heading into camp with their country ahead of the Quilter Nations Series.
England regrouped on Sunday to face Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and Argentina at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham over the next four weeks; and those clashes are all prospects that Freeman is ready to get stuck into.
He said: “I’m really looking forward to it – it’s going to be good. I just can't wait to get going!”