England prospect Tommy Freeman vows to bounce back to form after being hauled off after 40 minutes

Tommy Freeman was one of the final victims of Eddie Jones’ ruthless England tenure but the Northampton tyro has vowed the hurt of being hauled off at half time will be the making of him.

Freeman, still just 21 and one of English rugby’s brightest prospects, was one of four players substituted by Jones just 40 minutes into November’s defeat by South Africa.

The loss to the Springboks turned out to be Jones’ final game in charge before he was sacked last month and replaced by new head coach Steve Borthwick.

Freeman made his Test debut in the 2-1 summer tour victory over Australia and impressed in the southern hemisphere but his autumn campaign did not go to plan.

‘It wasn’t ideal and definitely not the way I wanted it to go, but it’s a massive learning curve for me,’ said Freeman, after he led Northampton’s New Year’s Day destruction of Harlequins.

‘Obviously, it hurt. No one wants to come off at half time. It’s either going to make or break me and I think it’s making me to be honest.’

Former England boss Jones’ no-nonsense regime meant he was never afraid to make big calls although his player management has been called into question.

The Australian famously substituted two former Northampton players in Luther Burrell and Teimana Harrison in the first half of Tests.

The 21-year-old admitted it was not an ideal situation but he insists he will bounce back

He did the same to scrum-half Danny Care in Australia in July too.

‘With a Test match, you might not be involved in the game for a period of time – a lot longer than in the Premiership,’ Freeman said, when asked what he’d learnt from his last international appearance.

‘In a Test match, you might not see the ball for a good 10 minutes. It’s about staying alert, staying in the game, and not switching off.

‘Eddie obviously helped me a lot. He believed in me, which was really nice. I had a look back at the South Africa game and spoke to the relevant coaches. Hopefully I can get myself back involved.’

Freeman says former England head coach Eddie Jones ‘helped him’ and ‘believed’ in him 

Freeman and the rest of England’s Six Nations hopefuls are spending the early part of this week in two training camps to be monitored ahead of Borthwick’s first campaign in charge.

Freeman is a strong contender to start that game and admitted the freedom he is given at Saints is a contrast to his England experiences to date.

‘I’d say I’ve probably been overthinking which is not my strong suit,’ Freeman said.

‘When I start to overthink that’s probably when my game doesn’t go to plan. I’m just trying to free myself up. If I stick to what I’m good at, the rest takes care of itself.

Freeman has admitted the freedom he’s given at Saints is a contrast to England experiences

‘When I’m left to my own devices I think that’s when I’m most comfortable. Obviously I need to know information about the plays but to have that freedom is really easy for me.

‘That’s when I play my best. The way we play here (at Northampton), we play what we see. If we see space wherever we are on the pitch, Sam Vesty (attack coach) gives us licence to back ourselves.

‘With England, it’s risk-reward. You still want to be able to play when you see space but sometimes you’ve got to hustle and force errors rather than having licence to go wherever.’