Vote of confidence in Rees-Zammit: 'We back him to deal with anything that comes his way'
Wales wing sensation Louis Rees-Zammit has been backed to “deal with anything that comes his way” in Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations showdown against England. The 20-year-old Gloucester speedster has made a spectacular start to his international career, scoring four tries in six Tests.
Three of those Rees-Zammit scores came during Six Nations victories over Ireland and Scotland, including a double at Murrayfield that nudged Wales over the line as 25-24 winners. If Wales topple England in Cardiff they will clinch the Triple Crown – a first major trophy of head coach Wayne Pivac’s reign – and strengthen their Six Nations title hopes.
Rees-Zammit is sure to attract close attention from England, particularly defensively and under the high ball, while he looks set to line up opposite a familiar face in England try machine and his Gloucester teammate Jonny May. “Any threatening player is going to come with a huge tag on top of his head, so we are expecting (Rees-Zammit), among other players, to be targeted,” Wales assistant coach Jonathan Humphreys said.
“Louis has made massive improvements in his game and he knows a lot of those English players, so with that comes a huge amount of pressure. But he has got a great temperament and we back him to deal with anything that comes his way.
“He is great. He has just turned 20 and you can see how much he has grown up from the last Six Nations to this one. He is well aware of the work-ons – the amount of stuff he has got to do outside of scoring tries – and he is working very, very hard at doing that.”
The inside track from Gloucester on the intriguing Rees-Zammit vs May head-to-head on the wing which has the potential to hog the attention when Wales host England on February 27#SixNations #WALvENG #PremRugby
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 18, 2021
Wales’ injury situation, meanwhile, has improved considerably after Pivac was without a quarter of his original 36-man squad through injuries or suspension for the appointment with Scotland ten days ago. Players like fit-again backs George North, Jonathan Davies and Johnny Williams are set to be in the selection mix, and wing Josh Adams is available again after serving a two-match ban for breaching coronavirus protocols.
Full-back Leigh Halfpenny is going through his return to play protocols after failing a head injury assessment at Murrayfield, with only scrum-half Tomos Williams (hamstring) currently ruled out. Red cards are rugby union’s major talking point, with Wales seeing Ireland flanker Peter O’Mahony and Scotland prop Zander Fagerson sent off against them for dangerous ruck clear-outs, while there were similar sending-off episodes during last weekend’s Gallagher Premiership action.
“Any contact with the head runs a high risk of red cards,” Humphreys added. “It’s something we have been aware of all the way through this tournament. You need to keep reminding of the ramifications of any head collisions. We work very hard at that in training to be technically as good as we can.
“It’s everything we were advised on before the tournament. Referees want to clamp down on it, especially with everything that goes with concussions, and we were aware of it from the off. It doesn’t surprise me that we are having that (run of red cards). We just have to make sure we are not on the receiving end of that.”
England will arrive at the Principality Stadium looking to make an impact on this season’s Six Nations after being beaten by Scotland and then producing a largely unconvincing performance in seeing off Italy. “They are a world-class team,” Humphreys said. “A couple of months ago, they were winning the Six Nations and the Autumn Nations Cup, so we are expecting a huge physical challenge.
“It’s a massive Test match with everything that goes with Wales versus England. We are expecting the very best version of England.”
England aiming not to see red like Ireland and Scotland did this month #SixNations #WALvENG
https://t.co/A2qzykIBSv— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 23, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Pick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
15 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
15 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
15 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
15 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
15 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
15 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
15 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to comments