Lawes salutes Saints team-mate Tommy ahead of England debut

Freeman will start on the wing in the second Test against Australia on Saturday.

And it is just reward following a fantastic season for Saints, during which he racked up a massive 14 tries in just 18 appearances, with four of those coming from the bench.

Lawes will skipper England as they bid to bounce back from last Saturday's disappointing 30-28 first Test defeat.

And he is looking forward to seeing club-mate Freeman take to the stage at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane this weekend.

"I don’t really want to say this as it’ll probably go to his head, but he’s probably one of the most talented wingers I’ve seen coming through, especially at Saints," Lawes said.

"There’s pretty much nothing he doesn’t have that you need as a winger.

"He’s got a lot to learn, he’s only very young, so as long as he keeps his head down and works hard he’ll be around for a while I think."

So what does Lawes think makes Freeman so special?

"He’s very fast, very strong, he’s got great hands, he’s good at kicking… and he’s very tall so he’s quite good in the air as well!" the Saints legend said.

"I’ll make sure he doesn’t read any papers in the next couple of days now!

"He’s a very talented bloke."

Freeman has enjoyed a rapid rise since graduating from the Saints Academy.

And when asked when he first noticed his team-mate, Lawes said: "To be fair most of the stuff has been on the pitch, which is the best way of seeing it.

"This past season for Saints he’s been class.

"As I said – he’s not perfect, and has some mistakes in him, but if he keeps working hard he’ll be a class player."