Louis Rees-Zammit: Gloucester wing 'riding the wave' towards first Wales cap

Gloucester teenage wing Louis Rees-Zammit says he is enjoying the ride following his rapid rise from academy player to Wales squad member.

The 19-year-old was part of Wayne Pivac's squad for the 2020 Six Nations but remains uncapped after not being involved in the opening four games.

"I am riding the wave," Rees-Zammit told the Scrum V podcast.

"Everything has come so fast and I am just trying to take everything as it comes."

Rees-Zammit has burst onto the scene, becoming the youngest Gloucester player to appear in a Premiership fixture against Bath in April 2019, aged 18 years and 70 days.

In 2019-20 the Cardiff-born wing has scored 12 tries in 15 matches for the Premiership side, which helped gain him a place in the Wales 2020 Six Nations squad.

"It all came a bit quick from the first game I played for Gloucester against Bristol in the A league and it all started from there," he said.

"Then I got my Premiership debut a couple of months later and from there it has been weird. I can't explain the feeling of scoring and playing at Kingsholm."

'Devastated'

Louis Rees-Zammit in Wales training with George North during the 2020 Six Nations

Wales lost three of the four matches before the tournament was cut short with the postponement of the match against Scotland in March because of the coronavirus crisis.

Rees-Zammit was not involved in the victory over Italy or the successive defeats against Ireland, France and England and admits he was frustrated at not winning his first cap.

"I was not a happy camper and I was pretty devastated I did not play," said Rees-Zammit.

"I am always going to be ready to step up and play.

"I got the experience of being in camp and I am ready to go again, whenever anything comes I am more than ready to wear that Welsh shirt.

"When the Six Nations got cut short I spoke to Wayne Pivac and all the coaches.

"They were full of praise and just letting me know that I am going to be disappointed but they have plans for me.

"Whenever the next games come hopefully I will get picked if I play well enough for Gloucester and I will have to take my opportunity then.

"I have loads of things to improve on and I am not the finished article. It is only going to get tougher from here."

The Scotland match is due to be rearranged for 31 October to complete the 2020 competition, before Wales are due to play in an eight-team tournament involving the Six Nations sides in November and possibly December.

Rees-Zammit is in competition with the likes of Josh Adams, Liam Williams and George North for a wing berth.

His rapid rise has not been lost on him, after developing from being a passionate supporter during the 2019 Six Nations triumph to rubbing shoulders with the Wales squad just a year later.

Welsh teenager Louis Rees-Zammit made his Gloucester debut against Wasps in the Premiership Rugby Cup in October 2018

"I have watched Wales I don't know how many times and looked at all the players like George North and Josh Adams," said Rees-Zammit.

"I was in the crowd for that game against England in 2019 when Josh Adams took that high ball and scored.

"All of a sudden I am in the changing room and they are right next to me and I am training with them a year later. It felt weird with this 18-year-old, 19-year-old boy next to these superstars. It was a good experience.

"When you look at the likes of Alun Wyn Jones who leads from the front in training especially and then you have got George North and Leigh Halfpenny who have got the experience of playing for Wales when they were young.

"International rugby is different because it is more intense with the best players from everywhere, so the quality is higher.

"Obviously I can't speak from playing but in training I would say it is harder. Club rugby is not easy and I would say it is hard but there is that step up there."

'Upping the intensity'

Premiership Rugby will resume on 14 August with plans of seven games in four weeks when the league restarts. Some clubs will be playing once every four days to finish the season, with three midweek rounds scheduled.

With nine rounds of matches still to play, as well as the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals of both the Heineken Champions and Challenge Cups, a fixture pile-up was inevitable.

"I have been back at Gloucester six weeks so training has been good and it has started to up the intensity now, because we have games finally back in three weeks," said Rees-Zammit.

"There is going to be a lot of rotation with people getting game time which will be good.

"We came into lockdown not playing so well, so I am sure with a new coach (George Skivington) we are going to step it up again."