England and Northampton Saints star Tommy Freeman has revealed how future British and Irish Lions team-mate Josh van der Flier tried to get into his head during their clash with Leinster.<\/b><\/p>\n
It is one of the brilliant features of the famous touring side where enemies at club and international level join forces every four years.<\/p>\n
When Northampton took on Leinster in the Investec Champions Cup semi-final earlier this month, Van der Flier<\/a> was no doubt looking to play some mind games with Freeman before their encounter.<\/p>\n Appearing on The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast with ex-England internationals James Haskell and Mike Tindall, the Saints wing was asked whether he had come to blows with any future Lions<\/a> team-mate.<\/p>\n Opinion changed on Johnny Sexton<\/p>\n \u201cIs there anyone you\u2019ve had aggro with on the field that you\u2019re then going to meet up with? When I went on the tour, Johnny Sexton and I had never really spoken to each other apart from having a row with him on the field and calling him a word that I couldn\u2019t possibly say, it wouldn\u2019t get through approval,\u201d Haskell said.<\/p>\n Before Freeman answered, Tindall chimed in with his own story, saying: \u201cJohnno [Martin Johnson] told me to \u2018shut the f*** up, nobody\u2019. When Johnno tells you, it\u2019s \u2018f***, he\u2019s got a point\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Haskell also revealed other players who he formed a friendship with on Lions tours despite being fierce enemies on the field.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were guys like Sean O\u2019Brien, who I played with loads and wasn\u2019t sure what he was going to be like. Dan Biggar was really competitive and really chippy, and these guys I met and got on like a house on fire.<\/p>\n \u201cIs there anyone you\u2019ve had a bit of aggro with which you will be interested to see what they\u2019re actually like?\u201d<\/p>\n