Louis Rees-Zammit
Full nameLouis Rees-Zammit
Date of birth (2001-02-02) 2 February 2001 (age 23)[1]
Place of birthPenarth, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales
Height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Weight88 kg (194 lb; 13 st 12 lb)[1]
SchoolThe Cathedral School, Llandaff; Hartpury College
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing, Full-back
Current team Gloucester
Youth career
  Cardiff Blues[2]
  Hartpury College[2]
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2018–2024 Gloucester 69 (190)
Correct as of 16 January 2024
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2019 Wales U18 5 (20)
2020–2023 Wales 31 (70)
2021 British & Irish Lions 0 (0)
Correct as of 16 January 2024

Louis Rees-Zammit (UK: /ˈluːɪs/; born 2 February 2001) is a Welsh former rugby union wing. He played for Gloucester in the English Premiership[3][2][4] and for Wales at national level. In 2021, Rees-Zammit was selected to tour with the British & Irish Lions. On 16 January 2024, he left rugby union to join the NFL International Player Pathway.[5][6][7]

Early life

Rees-Zammit was born in Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan in Wales.[8] He attended The Cathedral School, Llandaff, and played rugby for the school.[9]

Club career

Rees-Zammit started his youth career at Cardiff Blues, before moving to Hartpury College and from there to the academy of Gloucester Rugby.[2]

He broke into the Gloucester senior team in the 2019–20 season, becoming the club's youngest ever Premiership player at 18 years and 70 days.[10] Rees-Zammit would also become Gloucester's youngest European player and youngest European try scorer in 2019. He scored two tries against Worcester during a 36–3 win in December 2019,[11] and later the same month became the first 18-year-old to score a hat-trick of tries[12] during a 33–26 loss to Northampton.[13] He received the Premiership Player of the Month Award in December 2019.[14] Rees-Zammit ended his season with 15 tries in 21 appearances, including 10 tries in 10 Premiership starts.

On 13 January 2020, Rees-Zammit signed his first professional contract with Gloucester, securing him to the club on a long term deal.[15] He ended the 2020-2021 season with a record of 11 tries in 20 games and was named Gloucester's Young Player of the Year.[16]

Rees-Zammit made his first appearance of the 2021–22 Premiership scoring two tries in the Round 4 victory over Sale.[17]

Rees-Zammit appeared in the Netflix Documentary Six Nations: Full Contact.[18]

On 16 January 2024, Rees-Zammit announced his intention to leave rugby union with immediate effect to join the NFL International Player Pathway.[19]

International career

Wales

Rees-Zammit represented Wales at under-18 level.[2]

He received his first call up to the senior Wales squad, from coach Wayne Pivac, on 15 January 2020 for the 2020 Six Nations Championship.[20] He made his debut for Wales, from the bench, in a test match against France held at Stade de France in Paris, France, in October 2020.[21][22] Rees-Zammit scored his maiden test try against Georgia on 21 November 2020.[23]

He scored his first 2021 Six Nations Championship try, on his Six Nations debut, in the Round 1 match against Ireland on 7 February 2021.[24] On 13 February 2021, in the Six Nations match against Scotland, he scored two tries, including the winning try, and was named as man of the match.[25][26] On 21 March, in the Round 5 Grand Slam decider, against France, Rees-Zammit had a try disallowed, following analysis by the TMO Wayne Barnes, when the ball was judged to have been grounded on the base of the corner flag.[27][28]

British & Irish Lions

On 6 May 2021, Rees-Zammit was named in the squad for the 2021 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa.[29] Rees-Zammit's inclusion made him the youngest Lion selected since the 1959 Lions tour to Australia and New Zealand at the age of 20 years and 93 days.[30] Rees-Zammit made his first Lions appearance in the tours opening provincial game against the Lions, scoring the opening try after 3 minutes.[31] Rees-Zammit was then selected to play against the Sharks in the following game, again getting in the scoresheet as the Lions ran out 54–7 winners.[32] Rees-Zammit scored as a replacement in the final provincial game of the tour on 17 July 2021 against the Stormers, taking his tour tally to 3 tries in 4 appearances.

International tries

Try Opponent Location Venue Competition Date Result
1  Georgia Llanelli, Wales Parc y Scarlets Autumn Nations Cup 21 November 2020 Win
2  Ireland Cardiff, Wales Millennium Stadium 2021 Six Nations 7 February 2021 Win
3  Scotland Edinburgh, Scotland Murrayfield 2021 Six Nations 13 February 2021 Win
4
5  Italy Rome, Italy Stadio Olimpico 2021 Six Nations 13 March 2021 Win
6  Fiji Cardiff, Wales Millennium Stadium 2021 Autumn Internationals 14 November 2021 Win
7  South Africa Pretoria, South Africa Loftus Versfeld Stadium 2022 Tour of South Africa 2 July 2022 Loss
8
9  England Cardiff, Wales Millennium Stadium 2023 Six Nations 25 February 2023 Loss
10  Fiji Bordeaux, France Stade de Bordeaux 2023 Rugby World Cup 10 September 2023 Win
11  Portugal Nice, France Stade de Nice 2023 Rugby World Cup 16 September 2023 Win
12  Georgia Nantes, France Stade de la Beaujoire 2023 Rugby World Cup 7 October 2023 Win
13
14

Personal life

Rees-Zammit's paternal grandfather emigrated to London from Malta.[33] He is currently dating social media influencer and Youtuber Saffron Barker.[34]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Louis Rees-Zammit". wru.wales. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Who is Louis Rees_Zammit". 2 April 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  3. ^ "The night Louis Rees-Zammit's career exploded and his perfect response when asked if he could play for England". 21 December 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  4. ^ "Louis Rees-Zammit Profile". Itsrugby.co.uk. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  5. ^ "Louis Rees-Zammit: Wales and Gloucester winger to quit rugby to play American football". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  6. ^ "Rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit enters NFL's international player pathway program". NBC Sports. 16 January 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  7. ^ "Rugby star quits sport to pursue career in NFL". ESPN.com. 16 January 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  8. ^ Howell, Andy (16 August 2020). "The Louis Rees-Zammit interview: I definitely want a Wales debut this autumn". WalesOnline. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  9. ^ Thomas, Simon (16 January 2020). "The story of the little boy who grew up to be Welsh rugby's next big thing and the brother who has his back". Wales Online.
  10. ^ "LOUIS REES-ZAMMIT BECOMES GLOUCESTER RUGBY'S YOUNGEST PREMIERSHIP PLAYER". Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  11. ^ "Gloucester's teenage sensation Louis Rees-Zammit continues remarkable rise by inspiring win over Worcester". The Independent. 21 December 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  12. ^ "Louis Rees-Zammit set a new Premiership record in Gloucester Rugby loss at Northampton Saints". 28 December 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  13. ^ "Welsh teen sensation Louis Rees-Zammit set to force his way into Six Nations squad after stunning hat-trick of tries". 28 December 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  14. ^ "Louis Rees-Zammit named English rugby's player of the month and immediately donates prize to Welsh cancer centre". Wales online. 8 January 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  15. ^ "LOUIS REES-ZAMMIT EXTENDS HIS CONTRACT AT GLOUCESTER RUGBY". Gloucester Rugby. 13 January 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  16. ^ "Louis Rees-Zammit named 2020-21 Young Player of the Year". Gloucester Rugby. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  17. ^ "Gloucester v Sale - Rugby Union".
  18. ^ "Full Contact: Six storylines to follow from the Netflix series at the 2024 Six Nations". Sky Sports. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  19. ^ https://twitter.com/ChallengeCup_/status/1747240620253401579
  20. ^ "Six Nations: Wales call up teenager Rees-Zammit and Saracens' Tompkins". BBC Sport. 15 January 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  21. ^ "France vs Wales: Alun Wyn Jones to equal Test record, Louis Rees-Zammit set for debut". Sky Sports. 22 October 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  22. ^ "France 38-21 Wales: Antoine Dupont inspires home side in Paris". BBC Sport. 24 October 2020. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  23. ^ World, Rugby (21 November 2020). "Louis Rees-Zammit gets his first Test try". Rugby World.
  24. ^ "Rees-Zammit scores try on Six Nations debut as Wales hold off 14-man Ireland". 7 February 2021. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  25. ^ "Preview: Scotland v Wales". Six Nations Rugby.
  26. ^ Bath, Richard; Cosgrove, David (13 February 2021). "Louis Rees-Zammit's stunning solo try sees Wales win thriller against 14-man Scotland". The Telegraph. Retrieved 13 February 2021 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  27. ^ Calvert, Lee (20 March 2021). "France 32-30 Wales: late try breaks Welsh hearts – as it happened". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com. Louis Rees-Zammit of Wales dives over the line only to have his try disallowed by referee Luke Pearce.
  28. ^ Smith, Paul (21 March 2021). "Ref Watch: The Grand Slam decider and the one call they got wrong". www.rugbypass.com. Playing with advantage Wales moved the ball wide where Louis Rees-Zammit attempted a spectacular mid-air grounding just inside the corner flag. Ridley's decision to stay seven metres from the flag behind play left him with an obscured view and therefore unable to make a concrete decision. Pearce initially advised Barnes he saw it as a try and then – showing superb knowledge of the detail of law – told Ollivon: "If it is grounded against the base of the corner flag it is not a try, that is why we have Wayne in the van."
  29. ^ "British and Irish Lions 2021: Sam Simmonds in 37-man squad but Billy Vunipola misses out". BBC Sport. 6 May 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  30. ^ "Rugby-Rees-Zammit becomes youngest Lion in more than 60 years". Reuters. 6 May 2021.
  31. ^ "Louis Rees-Zammit scores four minutes into Lions debut". 3 July 2021.
  32. ^ Mairs, Gavin; Goodwill, Jake (7 July 2021). "Duhan van der Merwe and Josh Adams score hat-tricks as Covid-hit Lions put opponents to the sword". The Telegraph.
  33. ^ "Rees-Lightning! Wales' Rising Rugby Star Is A 19-Year-Old Kid With Maltese Blood". Lovin Malta. 23 February 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  34. ^ "Louis Rees-Zammit dating social media influencer and Strictly contestant". Wales Online. 11 November 2023.

External links

British & Irish Lions – 2021 South Africa tour
Wales squad – 2023 Rugby World Cup
Categories