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Gloucester flyer Rees-Zammit wants to race Jonny May to see who's the club's fastest player

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Gloucester speedster Louis Rees-Zammit says he wants to race returning England star Jonny May to see who is the fastest at the club next season. May is returning to Kingsholm from Leicester Tigers, meaning the young Welshman will have his work cut out to claim to be the fastest man in the west.

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May is the fastest man in English rugby and you might have to look to the Sevens code to find a faster rugby player. The 30-year-old has apparently clocked 37.71 km/h, or 10.475 metres per second.

Up until recently Rees-Zammit had not undergone any sprint training but yet he has hit 36.34km/h or 10.1 metres a second on GPS, suggesting a sprint off between the pair would be no foregone conclusion. In a wide-ranging interview on Welsh Rugby Union’s official website, Rees-Zammit says his speed is simply down to genetics.

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The finale of The Season is HERE:

A red card in the final moments of BBC’s crucial traditional match against
Nudgee puts the defence under immense pressure, while the next generation of rugby players gain inspiration from the school’s Year 12’s. With the premiership out of reach, the First XV gather for an emotional final outing on Miskin Oval, while some of the seniors experience life-changing growth with the Ninja Warrior Program. As the sun sets on the 2019 campaign, the focus turns to reflection, growth and admiration of the goals achieved during a watershed season for the rugby program.

Video Spacer

The finale of The Season is HERE:

A red card in the final moments of BBC’s crucial traditional match against
Nudgee puts the defence under immense pressure, while the next generation of rugby players gain inspiration from the school’s Year 12’s. With the premiership out of reach, the First XV gather for an emotional final outing on Miskin Oval, while some of the seniors experience life-changing growth with the Ninja Warrior Program. As the sun sets on the 2019 campaign, the focus turns to reflection, growth and admiration of the goals achieved during a watershed season for the rugby program.

“It’s all about genetics I guess. My dad is really fast and I get my pace from him. I’d never done any sprint training before this year and I’ve never done athletics.

“I’ve got a lot faster through doing some sprint training and Dan Tobin, the head of S&C at Gloucester, has been putting together loads of programmes for me, I’ve been doing sprint training after every session and I’m definitely getting faster.”

“Jonny’s a bit of a legend at Kingsholm. When he gets to the club we will have to have a race to see who’s quickest – and perhaps we could stream it live,” said Rees-Zammit.

“When Jonny comes back it will provide more competition for all of us and that can only be a good thing. I don’t worry about pressure, it’s all about working hard to get into the team.”

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There was no mention of Charlie Sharples, Gloucester’s other sprinter. Sharples has clocked 4.82 seconds over 40 metres, which is indicative over a metre per second top speed of around 10mps.

Elsewhere the youngster admits he’s disappointed not to have won a Test cap for Wales at this year’s Guinness Six Nations. The 19-year-old was widely expected to have been given a cameo role and his lack of game time came as a surprise to many, with head coach Wayne Pivac relying on tried and tested outside backs throughout the curtailed tournament.

“It was disappointing not to get a cap during the Six Nations, but hopefully my time will come. When my chance does come I’ve got to take the opportunity and I’ll be ready for it,” he said.

Rees-Zammit, who came through the Gloucester Rugby Academy, made his debut for the senior squad last season.

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“This season has been a good experience for me. I’ve got used to the Premiership both physically and mentally and every time I get the ball I know I need to make an impact,” he said.

“I take it game by game, training session by session. When I’m picked I just give it my all for the team.

“I know I have a lot of work-ons, but they will definitely get better if I keep working on them. Every training session I do extras.”

Reez-Zammit also says he didn’t find the step up to European competition this year to be too steep an incline when compared to the Gallagher Premiership.

“I didn’t really find any difference between the Premiership and European. The intensity was pretty similar and it wasn’t too different, even though I thought it was going to be,” he said.

“Kolbe is the best wing in the world and it was a good experience playing against him, although it was a bit annoying it got cut short because of the injury I picked up. I just wanted to show anything I could to everyone in front of the best wing in the world.”

In January he signed a senior contract, which came on the back of some incredible performances this season, as well as numerous achievements including becoming Gloucester Rugby’s youngest ever Premiership player, their youngest ever player in a European match, and the youngest player ever to score a hat-trick in the Premiership.

At just 18 years old, there’s no doubt Rees-Zammit has an exciting career ahead of him, even if he has to wait for his first cap.

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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