When the moment is right Tommy Freeman still loves performing the magic card tricks he first learned at school in Suffolk. It is always fun finding fresh “victims” and on the Eurostar back from an away game in Paris this month it was the turn of Northampton’s young scrum‑half Archie McParland to be left open-mouthed by his teammate’s sleight of hand.

Now you see it, now you don’t. Coincidentally that happens to be Freeman’s super-strength on a rugby field as well. His club coach, Sam Vesty, long ago spotted him as the type of player who makes most impact when he backs his instincts. A keen hockey player in his youth, Freeman possesses the spatial awareness to pop up in places his opponents are not anticipating.

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It makes him sound, if you didn’t know his backstory, like someone to whom everything comes relatively easily. Tall and athletic with the high-flying ability to prosper aerially, his calm on‑field demeanour also makes his sporting ascent feel predestined. Which just goes to show that card tricks are not the only deceptive thing about England’s politely spoken 23-year-old wing.

Take, for example, the moment six seasons ago when his rugby dream lay in tatters. He was in his first year in Northampton’s academy, already trying to cope with the extra stresses involved, when he had a serious epileptic seizure after a night out. “When I was younger I’d have vacant episodes but in 2019 I had the big fit,” he says. “When it first happened I didn’t think I was going to play again. Mum and Dad were questioning it and they were gutted for me.”

He wasn’t allowed to drive for 18 months – “That was the hardest part … relying on other people to get you around was brutal” – and still has to take daily pills to guard against a potential recurrence. Even that regime, though, is not entirely worry-free. “I’ll be on them for the rest of my life but there are some side effects,” he adds. “You don’t want to be trying to have a kid with these tablets so there might be a time when it’s necessary to transition off them on to something else. That could obviously have an effect. We’ll deal with that when it comes to it.”

Since going public on his condition, he has received hundreds of empathetic messages, many from people saying how much it means to see him flourishing again. “It was good to try and inspire young lads to carry on doing what they love even though they might have epilepsy as well.” Not all the letters, sadly, have had happy endings. “There have been a few stories which have been quite heavy. Some people are having fits quite regularly. Touch wood I’ve only had one and it doesn’t happen again.”

All of which adds to the resilience Freeman has had to develop over many years. The youngest of three brothers, he hails from a services family and his father Cliff’s nomadic RAF job meant the boys were packed off to board at different schools in East Anglia from a young age. “I don’t want to say I had it tough growing up because I was fortunate to go to a very nice school and had good coaches and support around me,” he says. “But growing up I wasn’t always the best player on the pitch. I wasn’t always first choice, I wasn’t the favourite, I wasn’t the biggest. As I got older it was all about proving I was better than the guy next to me.”

Hence why it came as such a blow when, aged 16, Leicester concluded he was too small and released him from their academy. Then, after he was granted a second chance at Saints, came the epileptic episode. On top of all that, he had issues with tendinitis in his knees, exacerbated by the need to put on more weight to compete as a professional rugby player. “I had two patellar tendons absolutely buggered … I had two holes in each tendon and had it all scraped out. I thought rugby was going to stop for me after the knee stuff as well.”

The setbacks, though, “only helped me want to get better”. Eddie Jones saw enough to give him his first cap in Australia in 2022. He did well and was selected again to face South Africa at Twickenham in the autumn. All his family were in attendance, only for the fairytale to be wrecked when Jones gave him the shepherd’s crook treatment at half-time. “It was a tough one but if I’m honest I probably wasn’t ready. I think I’ve grown up a lot since then,” Freeman says. “You don’t go flying into absolutely everything. It’s about being instinctive but also clever with it. I probably wasn’t confident in terms of knowing what we needed to do at certain points.”

Now, though, he has the demeanour of a man who feels far more settled in a white jersey. As England prepare to head to Ireland on Saturday, he also believes top-level rugby is coming around to his way of thinking in terms of more movement, ambition and magical sleight of hand. “Everyone’s got similar shape so it’s those moments of brilliance that make the difference. I think the coaches now realise it’s those little bits of magic that create tries. The more we can practice those micro-skills the easier it’ll be.”

Attack, in other words, like the French. If England are seeking their very own Damian Penaud, maybe there is already one in the wings – or at outside centre, where Freeman says he is happy to play if asked. “Why not? I want to go and get the ball, show what I can do and make a difference.” Always assuming, of course, his teammates can sense the same opportunities. “Obviously you’ve got to be in the right spaces at the right time and Damian’s very good at that. He knows Antoine Dupont will make a break somewhere or Thomas Ramos will offload and create something. Building those connections is key.”

A first Twickenham try is another goal for Freeman but, for now, catching Ireland unawares and realising England’s latent potential is the priority. “We’re excited about this team and where it can go,” he says. “Hopefully they’re eyeing us up and feel threatened as well. I’m not the quickest but I can turn up in spaces where people don’t expect me. If that creates a chance for someone else then that’s good for me.” Could England’s resident magician have something tucked up his sleeve for the weekend?