Freeman back to help Saints deliver another statement European showing

The Warriors had only lost one home match in all competitions in two years, while Saints had lost the previous 10 Champions Cup matches they had played, failing to win in the tournament since a success at Lyon in January 2020.

But the black, green and gold refused to show any fear at Scotstoun Stadium - and England star Tommy Freeman was at the heart of it all.

Playing at centre, Freeman was named man of the match after producing a brutal physical showing in which he scored two tries.

Saints went on to win all of their pool stage matches as well as two knockout games before eventually being edged out by Leinster in a sold-out semi-final at Croke Park.

And reflecting on where it all began, at Glasgow, Freeman said: "We used that as a way to test ourselves in terms of what we're like against these teams and what they offer.

"There are a lot of superstars across the board in this competition and those first two games, against Glasgow and Toulon, really stood us in good stead for when we went back into the Premiership.

"Obviously the Premiership final win was unbelievable but some of the 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."

Freeman is feeling fresh and ready to go after being given last week off following his Autumn Nations Series exploits with England.

"My week was nice," said the 23-year-old, who started all four games for the Red Rose. "I went back to Norfolk to see the parents and picked up my dog from his training camp. He had a three-week training camp so he's basically a military dog now - he listens, which is perfect.

"We went to the Yorkshire Dales with him for two nights so it was pretty relaxed."

Freeman knows how important it is to reset after England action.

And he added: "I wouldn't even say it's too much physically, it's more the mental rest you need.

"England is an intense environment, everything is on the line so it's more about the mental rest than the physical.

"We obviously wanted to come away with more wins and with how close we were it's positive in terms of where we're going as an England team.

"Pressure always rises when you're on the back of losses."

Freeman didn't show any signs of having the weight of the world on his shoulders in England's final match of the autumn, against Japan, as he delivered a typically classy showing that included a stunning try-creating offload for Saints team-mate George Furbank.

"How long have you got?!" Freeman said, laughing when asked to reflect on that moment of magic. "It was good. Right place, right time.

"We're taught to express ourselves and show what we can do, and in that moment I thought that was the right decision. Thankfully, Furbs was on the same page!”

Saints struggled to rediscover their spark last Saturday as they were beaten 25-17 by Gloucester, ending a run of 13 successive home league wins.

But, with wing wizard Freeman now ready to return, they will look to put things right against Castres on Saturday.

"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 the 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."