Louis Rees-Zammit won't face team he rejected twice

Bristol Bears boss Pat Lam said that Wales superstar Louis Rees-Zammit will miss the trip to the Newcastle Red Bulls, the team he has twice rejected since he left the NFL last summer.

Rees-Zammit turned down a three-year deal worth £600,000 a season from the Red Bulls to join the Bears on a one-year contract after leaving the NFL’s International Player Pathway Programme.

He then knocked back a bid to move to Kingston Park next season before putting pen to paper on a new long-term contract with the Bears early in the New Year, and he will be missing from the long trip to the North-East on Friday evening.

Rees-Zammit missed last weekend’s 53–12 win over Gloucester with a knee injury that he picked up in training. He scored a brace in the return game in December, his last tries this season, but is closing in on a return to action, along with Santi Grondona.

Grondona is under treatment for a minor calf injury, while tighthead Max Lahiff is back in full training, but lock Steele Barker could miss the rest of the season after dislocating a shoulder.

“Zam (Rees-Zammit) should be available for the Saracens game. Santi Grondona should be available for that as well. Steele has unfortunately dislocated his shoulder.

“I will find out soon if he’s going to require surgery or not. So, the curse is on the second rows at the moment. It’s now past the deadline, which was on the 17th.

“I think we’ve still got a group that we can get out. We might have to play a few boys out of position, but you crack on, and the next guy steps up, and we go from there,” he said.

Lam got some much-needed relief from his injury woes last week when lock Joe Batley played the full 80 minutes against the Cherry and Whites on his return from the treatment room.

“He played well. The guys get a chance to vote for the man of the match, but when there’s a lot of options, you know, the team played well, and he was one of them. His influence and experience certainly gives a lot to our group,” he added.