Johan Ackermann predicts bright future for Wales prospect Louis Rees-Zammit
Gloucester boss Johan Ackermann lavished praise on teenage wing Louis Rees-Zammit after the Welshman cut loose against Premiership opponents Worcester.
The 18-year-old scored two tries and set up another in Gloucester’s 36-3 win at Kingsholm.
And his performance did little to lower excitement levels about the Wales Under-18 international ahead of this season’s Six Nations.
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“International rugby is a big step up. The best of the best play there, and time will tell,” Ackermann said.
“The first thing is for him to play well for Gloucester, and if he does get invited into the Wales group, they will compare him with what they have and then he has to prove himself.
“He has definitely got the skill, but in international rugby everything is faster.
“He is good enough. He has got size, he’s a young guy and he has got the mental toughness. It’s just to get the formula right and the pathway right for him.
“I think it’s great for him where he is in his career. He is young and playing good rugby.
“When you play a young player, you see a lot of good things in training and you hope he can transfer that onto the playing field.
“I didn’t think he had all the opportunities in his first few games, and people didn’t really see why we played him, but in the last two weeks he has started showing some of those things when he gets space.
“He is a confident guy. When you speak to him he is up to the challenge, he is engaging with his conversations and he has the confidence to try things on the field, and that’s what you need at this level.”
Reports have emerged in Wales regarding the futures of Liam Williams and Ross Moriartyhttps://t.co/KxrSzp5sjE
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 20, 2019
Gloucester climbed to third place in the Premiership after sinking Worcester following a second-half scoring burst.
They made hard work of it for an hour, but four tries in 12 minutes forced the Warriors to surrender as Gloucester triumphed in bonus-point fashion.
Rees-Zammit apart, centre Chris Harris, flanker Ruan Ackermann and number eight Ben Morgan also touched down, with Danny Cipriani adding four conversions and a penalty to give Gloucester their first league victory since they defeated Wasps in late October.
Worcester were on the board first with a Duncan Weir penalty but conceded 36 unanswered points as Gloucester surged clear in the second half on the back of Rees-Zammit’s excellence.
“We would have taken any result tonight,” Johan Ackermann added. “The fact we got the five points is a plus. It was a tough game.
“You must work really hard to get your points against them (Worcester). Although it was 3-3 at half-time, we felt if we could be a bit more accurate, it would come.”
Worcester rugby director Alan Solomons, meanwhile, had no complaints after seeing his side well beaten.
“We didn’t have field position, we didn’t have possession of the ball and all the points came in the last 20 minutes,” he said.
“When you are stuck in your half and you are just defending, eventually it is going to lead to the other side scoring points, and that is exactly what happened.
“That is the price you pay for not having the field possession or the ball. We just tackled all night.
“You have got to give credit to Gloucester, they played really well. They hung on to the ball, and eventually the opportunities came for them.”
– Press Association
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Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments