Louis Rees-Zammit has lost none of the pace which made him a world class wing
Louis Rees-Zammit of Bristol Bears (Image: 2025 Getty Images)
Louis Rees-Zammit is set to make his rugby comeback in Bristol Bears’ Premiership Rugby Cup fixture at Sale Sharks this Saturday.
According to Planet Rugby, Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam has pencilled in this weekend’s Prem Rugby Cup opener as the first test for Rees-Zammit. The 24-year-old was one of the most prolific finishers in world rugby prior to his 18-month stint in American football.
Lam insists Rees-Zammit has lost none of the pace which made him a world class winger and revealed he is the fastest in the Bristol squad. It comes a week after video emerged of the Welshman scoring a wonder try in training.
“Louis Rees-Zammit, man, he is quick,” Lam told Planet Rugby.
“Some of the things he’s done in training are what we’ve seen in his highlights reel and what’s exciting about him. Some of the things he’s done in training are just impressive.
“Jack Bates is up there, he’s pretty fast as well, and got some quick nines, and there’s some quick backs, but he’s (Rees-Zammit) the fastest, 100%.”
Lam also revealed Rees-Zammit has adapted well since returning to rugby and has lost a lot of weight since his time in the US. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
“He’s already said publicly that he needs to chop some weight, which he’s already done and has a bit more to do,” said the Bears boss.
“In the first two training sessions, he was blowing really hard and just getting back into rugby training. Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news stories sent straight to your inbox with our FREE daily newsletter. Sign up here.
“Certainly in our back three, there’s more work rate in there, but over the last couple of weeks, you can see the improvement coming in there as well.
“I want to make sure that he’s in the right place before that first Prem game, because there’s gonna be so much attention on him. But every day he’s getting better.”
Wales head coach Steve Tandy will undoubtedly want to get Rees-Zammit back in a red shirt as soon as possible.
Tandy’s first campaign in charge is a difficult one with Wales taking on Argentina, Japan, New Zealand and world champions South Africa. Join WalesOnline Rugby’s WhatsApp Channel here to get the breaking news sent straight to your phone for free
But according to Lam, Rees-Zammit is making good progress.
“We talk about 1000 touches a week. He’s finished training with a lot of skill work, which is what we do anyway, so he’s had his hand on the ball a lot more,” said Lam.
“He’s had a lot of work on cohesion with the other guys. Him and Gabs Ibitoye together are training well, one creating for the other, so that was exciting.”