Louis Rees-Zammit: Wales wing will 'bounce back' from England omission, says Dan Biggar

Wales wing Louis Rees-Zammit has played 14 internationals

Wales wing Louis Rees-Zammit will "bounce back" after being dropped for Saturday's Six Nations match against England, captain Dan Biggar says.

Rees-Zammit, 21, was nominated for World Rugby's breakthrough player of the year after helping Wales win the 2021 Six Nations.

But he has struggled to impose himself on the first two games this year.

"It's never easy when selection doesn't quite go your way for one reason or another," said Biggar.

"But the only people I can think of is someone like a Dan Carter or a Jonny Wilkinson, who have never had to go through it.

"Every one of us in the team and management here have gone through it in our careers. Very rarely do you never get dropped or not selected.

"He's young, he's burst on to the scene, is an incredible talent and is a real poster boy for Wales.

"But, for him, I'd say, 'You're a young guy, you've got tonnes of time to bounce back'.

"I don't think anyone is thinking this is the end for him at all. At 21, he's got years and years left in him.

"He'll bounce back no doubt and it wouldn't surprise me to see him have an absolute stormer for Gloucester this weekend."

Biggar will win his 98th cap for Wales against England on Saturday and, although he has also played three Tests for the British and Irish Lions, the Northampton fly-half has not always been in favour with his country.

The 32-year-old was in and out of the Wales team after making his debut in 2008 and missed out on selection for the 2011 World Cup - but has since forged an impressive career.

"It's hard to say it's not disappointing because it does hurt at the end of the day, when you're not selected," said Biggar.

"That's the first thing that needs to be said but it does act as a real motivation to prove people wrong and I think you've got to have that in your character.

"I've said that to him [Rees-Zammit], 'You don't want to be sulking about it for too long' and he won't because he's a great lad and he's got a brilliant head on his shoulders.

"He's got a big game this weekend for Gloucester and I'm sure it will do him the world of good to get some game time and showcase his talents.

"He's an extremely talented boy with a huge future and I'm sure this is just a little blip for him."

Rees-Zammit was catapulted to stardom after a spectacular Six Nations campaign last year in which he scored four tries and caught the eye with his blistering pace.

However, this season's edition he has struggled since damaging his ankle during the warm-up before the opening defeat against Ireland.

He was still able to play the match in Dublin - as well as the win over Scotland the following weekend - but Wales head coach Wayne Pivac has opted for Josh Adams and Alex Cuthbert as his starting wings against England.

"He did pick up an ankle injury in the warm-up before the Ireland game. That probably hasn't been 100% and that's factored in," Pivac explained.

"But we've gone with experience, we've gone with a bit of extra work-rate across the field without the ball as well as with the ball.

"Louis is disappointed, he'll go away, work hard at his game and be back, I'm sure.

"He'll be frustrated but I think if you look back to the first Six Nations [2020 campaign], he didn't get any game time, he went away, listened to what the coaches had passed on, work hard and then had a very successful Six Nations last year.

"We expect him to go and work hard on his game and come back stronger than he is."

Rees-Zammit was available to train with Gloucester last week because English clubs are not compelled to release their Wales players outside of World Rugby's international windows.

By contrast, Welsh regions must allow their players to stay with the Wales squad in a fallow weekend for the Six Nations even if Welsh domestic teams have fixtures, for which Pivac may temporarily release some fringe players.

Asked if he wanted Rees-Zammit and his fellow England-based players playing their domestic rugby in Wales, Pivac said: "Definitely. It's certainly the ideal situation to have your whole squad for the whole tournament.

"But we realise that's not always the case and we know that from selecting the squad at the start of the competition. We factor all those things in."