Card tricks are not the only sleight of hand the Northampton Saints flyer will hope to show as the opening Six Nations contest against Ireland looms. When the moment is right Tommy Freeman still loves performing the magic card tricks he first learned at school in Suffolk. It is always fun finding fresh “victims” and on the Eurostar back from an away game in Paris this month it was the turn of Northampton’s young scrum-half Archie McParland to be left open-mouthed by his teammate’s sleight of hand.
![[Robert Kitson]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2017/10/09/Robert-Kitson,-L.png?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Now you see it, now you don’t. Coincidentally that happens to be Freeman’s super-strength on a rugby field as well. His club coach, Sam Vesty, long ago spotted him as the type of player who makes most impact when he backs his instincts. A keen hockey player in his youth, Freeman possesses the spatial awareness to pop up in places his opponents are not anticipating.
![[Tommy Freeman on the charge in against Australia in November, a match England lost 42-37 in a dramatic finale.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/03d8770f48c8c17c59dc29e3c1cc3970715d8634/0_0_5139_3567/master/5139.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
It makes him sound, if you didn’t know his backstory, like someone to whom everything comes relatively easily. Tall and athletic with the high-flying ability to prosper aerially, his calm on-field demeanour also makes his sporting ascent feel predestined. Which just goes to show that card tricks are not the only deceptive thing about England’s politely spoken 23-year-old wing.
![[Freeman, flanked by Harry Randall, left, and George Furbank sings the national anthem before the Autumn international against Japan at Twickenham in November.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/a2bd2c195df51a5092d78757780d49aa23ee5c60/0_0_4202_2801/master/4202.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Take, for example, the moment six seasons ago when his rugby dream lay in tatters on the floor. He was in his first year in Northampton’s academy, already trying to cope with the extra stresses involved, when he suffered a serious epileptic seizure following a night out. “When I was younger I’d have vacant episodes but in 2019 I had the big fit. When it first happened I didn’t think I was going to play again. Mum and Dad were questioning it and they were gutted for me.”.
