Freeman: Farrell has told us to impress each other, not those on the outside

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Tommy Freeman says British and Irish Lions head coach Andy Farrell has told the squad to “impress each other, not those on the outside” ahead of the opening tour clash against Argentina on Friday, live on Sky Sports.

The England wing has been named to start against the Pumas in Dublin, and gave an insight into what life is like under Farrell in the Lions camp.

“Andy’s been very good at talking about impressing each other rather than everyone else outside the picture,” Freeman told media this week.

“Obviously you want to play well for yourself and you want to do your best to get yourself selected for the Test matches, but at the end of the day you’ve got to be a team player and play your role in the team. You have to go above and beyond what you can do to add to it.

“Andy’s very clear, very precise with his messaging and he’s been awesome really. He’s been a massive deciding factor in how quickly we’ve learned and the way we want to play the game.

“It’s been brilliant and very easy to go at. Every game, and I’d say training as well, you need to put your best foot forward each time you go on the pitch and get your hands on the ball.

“Obviously this week there’ll be a bit of pressure, and in the back of your mind you can’t ignore it, but every time you put that shirt on, or training gear, you want to do the best you can for the team and yourself.”

In terms of how the Lions environment differs from that of a club or national team one, Freeman reveals one element has really struck him: the speed with which the players are grasping new systems, tactics and game-plans.

“The difference I’ve found from the club scene and from England is how quick people learn,” he says.

“It’s the best of the best, isn’t it? You’re all there for a reason. Learning the plays, learning the calls, they’re all very different and you’ve got the same things at clubs but it’s just named differently so it’s how quick everyone’s learning and getting on board with that.

“How we learn to be around each other and how well the coaches have done to get us all on the same page and get us all kind of married up.

“The way we play as well, we’ve gotten to know each other and the way different players move the ball and do things, we’ve picked up cues here and there. It’s just all about adapting.

“It’s rugby at the end of the day and it’s about finding space and taking the opportunity. If you see the opportunity, you call it and you get the ball there. We’ll be measured on that and we don’t want to be missing phases and getting it done one phase too late.

“It’s very much heads-up rugby. You’ve got a bit of shape obviously, you’ve got set-piece, you’ve got that unpredictability. Outside of that it’s just play what you see and get the ball there if it needs to be there.

“It’s obviously been a short space of time but I’m as confident as ever and I’m sure the lads are as well.”

A backline of huge size and physicality – ‘We want to score a lot of tries’

Outside of Marcus Smith at full-back, the rest of the Lions backline for Friday’s clash is enormously big and physical.

Freeman and Scotland’s Duhan van der Merwe are two of the biggest wingers in the sport, while centres Bundee Aki and Sione Tuipulotu were surprisingly paired together in a midfield packed with power.

The aim? To score a hatful of tries, says Freeman.

“Without giving away too much, hopefully a lot of tries to be honest. Instinctive playing, we’re not going to be there to set stuff up and go through phases for the sake of going through phases.

“We want to score off the back of anything we can and the guys we’ve got in the backline, the threats people have to offer and the ballplayers that can put us in those spaces, it’s going to be a lot of fun and dangerous.

“You don’t want wingers standing on the wing too much and going quiet for phases of games. You want them popping up in spaces to inject a bit of pace or power and create that extra number.

“If you’re standing on your wing and being a bit lazy, that’s when you’ve probably missed some opportunities.

“I think that suits how I play and the way the other boys play as well. It’ll definitely play well for all of us.”

British and Irish Lions squad to face Argentina in Dublin on Friday – live on Sky Sports

British and Irish Lions: 15 Marcus Smith, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Sione Tuipulotu, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Luke Cowan Dickie, 3 Finlay Bealham, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 6 Tom Curry, 7 Jac Morgan, 8 Ben Earl.

Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Henry Pollock, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Elliot Daly, 23 Mack Hansen.

British & Irish Lions tour of Australia on Sky Sports

Sky Sports will exclusively show the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, with all three Tests against the Wallabies and six warm-up matches to be shown exclusively live.

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