Freeman // Saints aiming to ’right the wrongs’ against Sale

Northampton Saints will be looking to ‘right some wrongs’ when they return to action this Friday against Sale Sharks, according to returning star Tommy Freeman.

The men in Black, Green and Gold fell to a disappointing home defeat against Leicester Tigers last time out, with Freeman watching on from afar as he took his mandatory rest week after starting all of England’s Six Nations fixtures.

But the 24-year-old has been back at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens this week, as Phil Dowson’s side go in search of their first victory at Salford Stadium in eight years in Round 14.

“It is not going to be an easy one against Sale,” said Freeman. “They’ve got a bit of a fortress and we haven’t won there since 2017.

“They play well at home and have that northern grit rugby and bring that physicality. We know we’ve got to match that, if not go well above and beyond it. We will be looking to right some wrongs.”

Freeman watched Saints’ loss last time out from an Irish bar in New York as he and Alex Mitchell missed the East Midlands Derby to take their rest week.

He conceded it was a ‘tough watch’ but underlined how important it was to have some downtime following the Six Nations to recharge his batteries before throwing himself into the Gallagher Premiership run-in.

“When you are training here you get to go back to home and you switch off,” he explained. “Whereas when you are in camp, you are pretty much on the ball, all the time and always having conversations with people, you are always in the same group. It is a bit difficult, to have that switch off and that week off in between, is definitely really important mentally as well as physically.”

Freeman returns to Saints a record-breaker, becoming the first Englishman to score in every match of a Six Nations campaign and was nominated for the Player of the Tournament accolade.

“It’s nice to have that under my name and it is something that I will cherish forever,” Freeman said. “Hopefully I will score a few more.

“There’s still more to go for. It’s a bit of a reflection, I suppose, but I will get two in each game next time, than just the one each game, it is always nice getting over the line and doing something special like that.

Freeman, who will bring up a half-century of club tries if he continues his scoring streak by crossing the line against Sale, returns to Saints who have work to do if they are to put pressure on the play-off places in the remaining six rounds.

“It has been mixed [season],” he said. “We didn’t have a good start to the season, we picked up a little bit. Obviously, we did well in Europe and we have carried on doing well in Europe. We are showing signs we have still got it, it's just a few lapses in concentration, and a few skill errors are costing us, especially from last week.

“We know what we have got to do now. We have got to win every game and we will be trying to get after it as best we can.”