'I was meant to be a girl, the scans showed that I'd be a girl'

Flying Wales and Lions winger Louis Rees-Zammit has made a startling admission – that he was meant to be born a girl. The 21-year-old was first capped by his country in October 2020 and has since brought his caps total to 19 after starting in all three matches on last month’s tour to South Africa.

However, his dream career might never have unfolded in the men’s game if a scan taken before he was born had proven correct. The Gloucester player was born on February 2, 2001, in Penarth, but he wasn’t the delivery that his parents were expecting as they had already prepared for the arrival of a new daughter by choosing a girl’s name and decorating their house in pink.

Rees-Zammit made the revelation in a candid quick-first-question interview published in the latest edition of Rugby World. Asked what is his most embarrassing moment, he answered: “Can it be when I wasn’t born!”

The Wales wing went on to explain: “It’s not that embarrassing but I was meant to be a girl, the scans showed that I’d be a girl, so when I was born and they realised, my mum started crying.

“My dad was over the moon but mum was fuming. They had called me Georgia and painted my room pink. They had bought girls’ stuff, girly clothes.”

The 50 most influential people in rugby: find out how we compile this list and who makes the cut in the latest issue – OUT NOW! https://t.co/FL3r77l1dL pic.twitter.com/qzoIvaVqYW

— Rugby World (@Rugbyworldmag) August 3, 2022

As a follow-up, Rees-Zammit was asked if his parents dressed him up in the girls’ coats. “100 per cent,” he replied. “And I didn’t have a name for two weeks. My dad’s middle name is Luis, although he spelt it wrong on the birth certificate – he is spelt Luis and I’m Louis.”

Some other eye-catching answers in the magazine interview were that Dan Biggar “is actually really funny” and “the nicest man you’d ever meet”, that if he was ever stuck in a lift he would prefer it to be with Cristiano Ronaldo as “he’s my sporting hero”, Manchester United would be his Mastermind subject, and that he could easily eat ten bags of Skips crisps a day if allowed.