Freeman: Saints are ready to create more memories in Europe

The start of the Investec Champions Cup is something Tommy Freeman is relishing, as Northampton Saints kick-off the pool stages at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens against Castres Olympique this Saturday (7 December, kick-off: 3.15pm).  

A year ago, Saints travelled to Glasgow Warriors and began their European campaign with a 28-19 win – defeating a Glasgow side that had not lost at home in over two years. 

The win was a first for Northampton in ten Champions Cup matches, and kick-started a winning run that would see Phil Dowson’s side past RC Toulon, Aviron Bayonnais, Munster Rugby and Vodacom Bulls to reach the competition’s semi-finals. 

There Northampton were narrowly defeated 20-17 by eventual runners-up Leinster Rugby in an historic clash at Croke Park, but creating memories to last a lifetime in the European competition proved to be a catalyst for Saints when they returned to Premiership action, and that is something Freeman is hoping to replicate as this year’s tournament gets underway. 

He said: “We used that as a way to test ourselves, seeing what we're like against these teams and what they offer. There are a lot of superstars across the board in this competition.

“Obviously the Premiership Final win was unbelievable but some of the special memories we’ve spoken about from last season were games like Glasgow away in that wet weather, Munster, and the nights out after to celebrate.

“We'll go back and tell those stories, and we're looking forward to creating more of those. I’m very much looking forward to the competition starting this weekend.”

The men in Black, Green and Gold lock horns with Top14 side Castres for the first time since 2017 in Round 1, before making the trip to South Africa to face Vodacom Bulls next weekend. 

After a hiatus for the Gallagher Premiership over Christmas, Northampton’s European campaign picks back up in January – with a trip to Stade Francais preceding a re-match of last season’s Round of 16 when Munster make the trip to Northampton. 

And those match-ups are ones that 23-year-old Freeman is looking forward to getting his teeth stuck into. 

“I don’t know much about Castres to be honest – apparently we used to play them every other year back in the day!” Freeman said.

“It will be my first chance to go up against them and it will be an exciting game.

“We've got a trip to South Africa [to face Bulls] after that and apparently the altitude is a killer but we’ll go early and get our training in and we’re excited for the trip to explore what’s out there.

“We’re also going to France (to face Stade Francais in January), an unbelievable stadium to play in and the French crowd is electric so we’re really excited.”