Rugby Union

A lot of the conversation around Freeman at 13 that I’ve seen hinges around ‘we have better options there’, and I don’t disagree that right now and long term Lawrence is the choice.

However, I have seen very few people mention the fact that Freeman being a world class winger who can also play 13 (and 15 in a pinch) adds a hell of a lot to both Freeman’s personal longevity (how often have we seen Daly make a squad due to his versatility?) and to England’s flexibility in being able to get (potentially) a 7-1 bench come the World Cup.

In the case where we have M Smith and Freeman in, Earl can play the Kwagga Smith role of centre cover in the forwards, that gives the ability to reshuffle to cover pretty much any eventuality, needing just a 9 replacement on the bench.