Tommy Freeman is known for being multitalented, so it is fitting that he arrives brandishing a golf club. Thankfully none of the ensuing questions provoke its use in a non-sporting capacity. The Northampton back’s handicap will have to wait, because after a trip to Sale on Saturday he will dive into England’s Six Nations camp, surfacing in mid-March after the concluding fixture in Paris.
Les Bleus are the tournament favourites but if Steve Borthwick’s team stay on an upward curve – they have won 11 consecutive Tests – there is a decent chance that encounter at the Stade de France in seven weeks’ time will decide the title. An expansive Saints side also top the Prem before round 10, and the ever-improving Freeman personifies the prevailing effervescence of club and country.
