'I am loving it': Louis Rees-Zammit leads the way for Grand Slam-chasing Wales
Wales' Louis Rees-Zammit dives in to score his sides fourth try during the Six Nations win ovre Scotland.
The beaming smile on the 20-year-old’s face said it all.
Louis Rees-Zammit is a young man living out his dream. With him in their side Wales are two from two in the Six Nations and on course, somehow, for a Grand Slam.
There is no doubt Wayne Pivac’s team has had the rub of the green so far in their back-to-back wins over Ireland and Scotland.
Both Wales’ opposition have, crucially, lost men to red cards.
Without the dismissals of Peter O’Mahony and Zander Fagerson, Wales would likely be without a win and the pressure on Pivac would have gone to another level.
But Wales aren’t worrying about what might have been and neither is star man Rees-Zammit whose two-try, man-of-the-match display took his team to victory in Edinburgh.
“I did not see that coming at all – that was very special,” said the Gloucester wing.
“I am loving it. It means so much to me and my family. Hopefully I can do it again in our next few games. We’ve worked so hard as a group to try and get a performance and wins. We know it wasn’t pretty, but all that matters is getting the five points.
“The physicality and the speed of Test rugby is a lot different. When I first came into camp for the last Six Nations it was a shock, even in training. I didn’t play, but in training I was blowing after five minutes!”
Luck may have been on their side but the men in red have shown they still have the same grit and bottle to stay in and win tight games that characterised their success under Pivac’s predecessor Warren Gatland. Their win over Scotland was by the narrowest of margins and thanks to Rees-Zammit.
His second try late on was just superb and belied his tender years.
Picking the ball up from impressive replacement and debutant Willis Halaholo, Rees-Zammit showed his trademark pace, kicked ahead, and collected ahead of Stuart Hogg for the decisive try. Still looking like a sixth former who has got lost and ended up on a Test rugby field, Rees-Zammit is showing age is no barrier to success. He now has four tries in only six caps.
“That’s two out of two which is a great start to the campaign,” said Rees-Zammit.
“We’ve got England in two weeks which will be a huge game at the Principality. We’re going to be as motivated as ever to go into that game and try and get a win. The boys will be absolutely buzzing and we’ll go all guns blazing for that game.”
Wales looked dead and buried at 17-3 down to Scotland, but Rees-Zammit’s first try on the half-time whistle was a vital moment. It allowed Pivac’s men to stay in touch. Tries from Liam Williams, Wyn Jones and then Rees-Zammit again followed as Wales made the most of Fagerson’s departure for smashing into Jones at a ruck.
Pivac took plenty of stick in 2020, so it is only right to praise him for his ballsy decision to remove experienced half-backs Gareth Davies and Dan Biggar who were both poor.
He introduced rookies Kieran Hardy and Callum Sheedy, but it worked as Scotland couldn’t back-up their win over England despite a brace from captain Hogg and a Darcy Graham effort.
Pivac and captain Alun Wyn Jones sounded caution after the Scotland win and emphasised there is still a lot of work to be done. They were right to do so.
Still, however pragmatic Wales will remain, any rugby purist couldn’t help but get carried away by Rees-Zammit who is both electrifying and saving his team almost singlehandedly.
Wales will host England in with two wins out of two.
It will be a big ask for them to make it three against England that but if they do – and it’s a big if – they will surely beat Italy and then could face France for a Grand Slam.
Pivac will also likely have senior men George North, Jonathan Davies, Jonathan Davies as well as Johnny Williams and Josh Adams back for England. He will face a selection headache. Rees-Zammit is in dreamland himself, but told Wales fans not to think too big just yet.
“We’ve got a massive game against England and have Italy and France away,” he said. “They’re going to be two big Tests. It helps getting the first two wins, but by no means does that win you the trophy.
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