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Louis Rees-Zammit delivers speed warning to Wales' World Cup rivals

By PA
(Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Wales wing Louis Rees-Zammit believes he is definitely quicker than last season as he prepares to blast out of the starting blocks at his first Rugby World Cup. The 22-year-old has carved out a reputation as one of world rugby’s finest finishers, combining blistering pace with a box-office ability to score spectacular tries.

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The sport’s biggest stage now awaits a player good enough to thrill a worldwide audience through his dazzling skill set. Asked to compare his speed with a year ago, Gloucester star Rees-Zammit said: “I would say I am even faster.

“I feel the fittest I have ever been, and I am just raring to go. In terms of numbers, I am definitely quicker than last season. Being so fit, it just allows you to repeat and repeat all day. Being able to do it once or twice isn’t good enough. I have got to maintain that and keep doing it.

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“The (training) camps in Switzerland and Turkey lived up to expectations. They were the hardest things I have ever done. I feel so fit now. I am ready to perform, I am ready to play. We are all ready to go.

“We have got some very quick players – Rio (Dyer), Josh (Adams), the whole back-three, Mason Grady is rapid as well and the nines are very quick. We have got great pace in this squad.”

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Fellow wing Adams has proved a source of inspiration to Rees-Zammit, who remembers watching as a 17-year-old while he excelled at the last World Cup in Japan. Adams’ finished the tournament as the top try-scorer with seven, a figure bettered only by three players in one World Cup campaign – Jonah Lomu, Bryan Habana and Julian Savea.

Adams’ 20 tries for Wales mean he is in the same try bracket as greats like Gareth Edwards and Gerald Davies, and Rees-Zammit is a huge fan. “Josh helps me massively, doing analysis and making me learn the game better,” Rees-Zammit added.

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“He has done it all, he has been on a (British and Irish) Lions tour and he has been top try-scorer at the World Cup. He is an unbelievable player. I was 17 at the last World Cup watching him score loads of tries while I was at Hartpury College.

“He was unbelievable. He was the stand-out player at the last World Cup. To be able to train and play with him day in, day out is so special.”

Despite his age, Rees-Zammit offers considerable experience on the back of 27 Wales caps and a Lions tour to South Africa in 2021. “I feel quite experienced at such a young age,” he said. “Being on a Lions tour was amazing but being at a World Cup for your country is really special as well.

“I would never have thought I would have gone to a World Cup, so I am absolutely over the moon to have this opportunity. I have got to take it now.”

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fl 19 minutes ago
‘The problem with this year’s Champions Cup? Too many English clubs’

"Right, so even if they were the 4 worst teams in Champions Cup, you'd still have them back by default?"

I think (i) this would literally never happen, (ii) it technically couldn't quite happen, given at least 1 team would qualify via the challenge cup, so if the actual worst team in the CC qualified it would have to be because they did really well after being knocked down to the challenge cup.

But the 13th-15th teams could qualify and to be fair I didn't think about this as a possibility. I don't think a team should be able to qualify via the Champions Cup if they finish last in their group.


Overall though I like my idea best because my thinking is, each league should get a few qualification spots, and then the rest of the spots should go to the next best teams who have proven an ability to be competitive in the champions cup. The elite French clubs generally make up the bulk of the semi-final spots, but that doesn't (necessarily) mean that the 5th-8th best French clubs would be competitive in a slimmed down champions cup. The CC is always going to be really great competition from the semis onwards, but the issue is that there are some pretty poor showings in the earlier rounds. Reducing the number of teams would help a little bit, but we could improve things further by (i) ensuring that the on-paper "worst" teams in the competition have a track record of performing well in the CC, and (ii) by incentivising teams to prioritise the competition. Teams that have a chance to win the whole thing will always be incentivised to do that, but my system would incentivise teams with no chance of making the final to at least try to win a few group stage matches.


"I'm afraid to say"

Its christmas time; there's no need to be afraid!

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