'We're lucky to have him' - Waller salutes Saints hat-trick hero Freeman

And the prop feels Freeman can count himself unfortunate to have missed out on Rugby World Cup selection for England.

The wing wizard was in the tries against on Saturday, delivering a hat-trick against Bath to add to the double he bagged at Bristol Bears a week earlier.

Freeman's third score of the game was an incredibly special solo effort, which he started from inside his own half.

And with Fin Smith's nerveless conversion added, it meant Saints secured a stunning 43-42 win, having roared back from 42-19 down in the second half.

After the game, Waller was full of praise for Freeman, while also trying not to hype his talented team-mate up too much.

"He's a very good player!" said Walller, who replaced the injured Manny Iyogun after just three minutes against Bath.

"I won't tell him to his face because it'll blow his ego up but he's a quality player and we're lucky to have him.

"He was unlucky to miss out on that World Cup selection but having him here is always going to be a positive for us and he can do some pretty special stuff."

On Freeman's third try, Waller joked: "It was actually annoying because I reckon I could have done it myself!

"But we'll let Freemo have those fun ones and I'll just sit back and do the scrums and the mauls instead."