Tommy Freeman is eager to erase the distressing memory of his last appearance against South Africa at the Allianz Stadium when England face the world champions on Saturday.
Two years ago Freeman became a victim of Eddie Jones’ brutal policy of replacing players early in matches if he felt they were underperforming, resulting in his substitution at half-time of the 27-13 defeat.
The Northampton wing, who was 21 at the time and making only his third Test appearance, was scapegoated for England’s aerial game malfunctioning, although he was never given an explanation by Jones for his removal.
He followed in the footsteps of Luther Burrell, Teimana Harrison, Alex Lozowski and Danny Care, who had also been hauled off early.
It was Jones’ last game in charge as he was subsequently sacked and replaced by Steve Borthwick, but the substitution left its mark on Freeman, whose next cap did not come until this year’s Six Nations.
Now with the Springboks visiting Twickenham in the penultimate Test of the autumn, he is ready to make it a memorable occasion for the right reasons.
“It wasn’t ideal being pulled off at half-time, that wasn’t the best feeling in the world,” he said.
“I got a tap on the shoulder at half-time – ‘you’re coming off’. We had a gameplan to try and get the ball back and I wasn’t delivering that.
“That was my first match at Twickenham because I had the two before in Australia. First one at Twickenham with your family and friends who didn’t manage to come out to Australia and they’re all sat there watching at Twickenham. It was difficult.
“No one wants it to go that way. You heard stories before of things like that happening and it’s something you never want to happen to you.
“This opportunity is one to put it right, that’s definitely in the back of my mind at the moment.”
Freeman was not selected for the 2023 World Cup when England went down fighting against South Africa, losing a titanic semi-final 16-15.
The Springboks retained their world title, won this year’s Rugby Championship and have been restored to the summit of the global rankings following Sunday’s victory over Scotland.
But Freeman insists they should not be shown too much respect as England look to end a four-match losing run.
“The semi-final in the World Cup was a one-point game. South Africa were definitely blown back by the way the lads took it to them,” Freeman said.
“They are not unbeatable, they are still human, they are still rugby players, they are still playing the same game.
“We are going to deliver our game as best we can, make a few wrongs right from our game against Australia and go properly after them.
“We are not going in saying ‘we are expecting them to beat us, we will give it a shot’. That has never crossed our minds.
“We are going in to deliver our gameplan and if we deliver it well enough we know we can beat any team.
“We may be considered as underdogs but we’re going to take a big shot at them.”
