When Northampton Saints play Leinster in the Champions Cup semi-final on Saturday afternoon, they will become the first English club team to ever play in Croke Park.
Leinster has summoned Croker to play in the round of sixteen due to the cancellation of the Aviva Stadium. A sellout attendance of 82,300 is anticipated on Saturday evening.
Irish rugby fans are sure to take note of the venue’s historical significance as it will host its first game in 14 years.
In anticipation of their trip to the legendary Croke Park, Northampton has been eager to impart to their players the background of the stadium. This week, rugby director Phil Dowson disclosed that Eamonn Hyland, the team’s Irish S&C coach, had taught the players about Croke Park’s historical significance to the early 20th-century nationalist cause.
Bloody Sunday, the role of the Royal Irish Constabulary, and the significance of the GAA to the 1900s Irish independence movement were some of the subjects covered. Fly-half Fin Smith talked about having “goosebumps,” and Dowson stressed the need to teach the team things that aren’t covered in English schools.
One of Northampton’s top players doesn’t seem to have learned much from the lesson, as evidenced by an embarrassing verbal gaffe that surfaced on social media this week.
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.
Podcast presenter Lawrence Dallaglio addressed Freeman about the meaning of playing in Croke Park and what it meant to him and his teammates in a since-deleted video that was first posted to Twitter. To put it mildly, the England international made a terrible word choice:
Without a doubt, our goal in travelling there is to perform well and give it our all in order to get to the final.
In my opinion, Leinster is under a lot of strain because of Croke Park and its background. It’s likely that they are exerting some pressure.
We’re going all out, putting everything on the line, and maybe coming away with a result.
The metaphor of “full guns blazing” is quite unfortunate, considering the game at Croke Park carries the historical weight of the 1920 Bloody Sunday tragedy.
The brief snippet from the “Rugby Podcast” was even posted to Lawrence Dallaglio’s personal Twitter account, which is indicative of a player who frequently lined up for Ireland throughout his playing career showing a lack of concern.
Freeman’s remark appears to have been a simple slip of the tongue, but it does put further pressure on Northampton following their previous attempts to enlighten the team.
Northampton and Leinster meet on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Croke Park.
