Northampton Saints will become the first-ever English club side to play in Croke Park on Saturday afternoon when they take on Leinster in the Champions Cup semi-final.
With the Aviva Stadium out of action, Croker has been called into action by Leinster for the last-four clash, and a sellout crowd of 82,300 is expected on Saturday evening.
It will be the first rugby game at GAA HQ in 14 years, and the historical significance of the venue is certainly not lost on Irish fans.
Northampton have been keen to impress upon their players the history behind Croke Park in preparation for their visit to the iconic venue. Director of rugby Phil Dowson revealed this week that their Irish S&C coach Eamonn Hyland had conducted a history lesson with the players on Croke Park's significance to the nationalist movement of the early 20th century.
Among the topics discussed was Bloody Sunday and the role of the Royal Irish Constabulary, and the meaning of the GAA to the movement for Irish independence of the 1900s. Fly-half Fin Smith described having "goosebumps," while Dowson said it was important to educate the squad on topics not taught in English schools.
It appears as though some of that lesson may not have rubbed off on one of Northampton's star players, after an unfortunate slip of the tongue emerged on social media this week.
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Leinster v Northampton: Tommy Freeman chooses unfortunate turn of phrase in Croke Park discussion
If Northampton are to come away from Croke Park with a result on Saturday, they will require a big performance from Tommy Freeman on the wing - though he may have drawn the ire of the home fans with his unfortunate pre-match remarks.
I notice that *that* podcast clip interviewing a player who'll be in Croke Park this weekend was deleted.
Luckily I got a screencap for archive purposes.
I'm going to have to assume he was on a bet. pic.twitter.com/1Ev42uWDvq— Proper Rugby Kino (@RugbyKino) May 1, 2024
In a now-deleted clip initially shared to Twitter by podcast host Lawrence Dallaglio, Freeman was asked about the significance of playing in Croke Park and what it meant to him and his teammates. The England international's choice of words was poor, to say the least:
We're definitely going there with the intent to do a job and do the best we can to put ourselves in the final.
Personally, I think the pressure is probably on Leinster as it's Croke Park, and the history behind Croke Park. There's probably some pressure coming on from their side.
We're going full guns blazing, we're going to give it everything we've got...and hopefully come away with a result.
With the historical weight of the 1920 Bloody Sunday massacre hanging over the game at Croke Park, the use of the phrase "full guns blazing" is a rather regrettable one.
The fact that the short clip from the 'Rugby Podcast' was even shared to Lawrence Dallaglio's personal Twitter account shows a lack of care from a player who lined out many times against Ireland during his playing career.
There is no suggestion that it was anything more than a slip of the tongue from Freeman but it does undoubtedly ramp up the pressure on Northampton after their earlier efforts to educate the squad.
Leinster take on Northampton at 5:30pm in Croke Park on Saturday.
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