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The Independent
8 minutes ago
- The Independent
Louis Rees-Zammit has had ‘unbelievable' interest from rugby union teams
Former Wales winger Louis Rees-Zammit says he has had 'unbelievable' interest from clubs following his decision to return to rugby union. Rees-Zammit, 24, spent 18 months in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars, but did not feature for either franchise in a regular-season game. The former Gloucester wing, who made 32 appearances for Wales and toured with the British & Irish Lions in 2021, said he hopes to rekindle his international career. Rees-Zammit told Sky Sports News: 'I can't name teams, but I've had a load of interest, which is unbelievable. I'm very grateful for that. 'The season starts pretty soon. So it's about finding the right team for me in terms of location, in terms of how quick I've got to get into camp, and because the season's right around the corner, so all of these things that are going to happen, are going to happen pretty sharpish. 'Me and my brother are going through negotiations and seeing teams interested, which is amazing. We should find out in the next week or so.' Rees-Zammit quit rugby union in January 2024 in order to pursue his dream of playing in the NFL via its International Player Pathway Program. He signed an active roster deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars for the 2025 season after being part of their practice squad for the previous campaign and travelled to London for the games against the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots in October. Following his decision to return to the 15-man game, Rees-Zammit has targeted a return for Wales, who he helped to their last Six Nations triumph in 2021. He added: 'Playing for my country is the pinnacle and it's one that I absolutely love doing. 'I managed to play 32 times for my country in three, four years. I need to find a team. Once we find a team, get into good form and hopefully come Autumn Internationals, see where selection is. 'It's something that I'm really looking forward to and I really want to play for my country again.' Rees-Zammit's ambition will come as a welcome boost to recently-appointed Wales head coach Steve Tandy, who takes over a side that only ended an 18-match losing streak that lasted almost two years with a hard-fought win over Japan last month.
Daily Mail
9 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
'We'll be dead in 200 years... I am trying to have a good time': Lando Norris not desperate enough for world title to pick a fight with McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri
Lando Norris says he does not want to win the world title desperately enough to pick a fight with his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, reasoning that in, '200 years no one's going to care.' Managing his own expectations? Downplaying pressure? A reflection of the labyrinths of his mind? Anyway, ahead of Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix, the smiling Bristolian was asked if he would ratchet up the aggression in what has been an unusually harmonious relationship despite the championship contest being between them alone. Norris, who trails Piastri by 16 points ahead of the final round before the summer break, and has admitted to self-doubts, said: 'We'll be dead in 200 years. I am trying to have a good time.' Though he added: 'I still care about it. I'm so upset sometimes and get angry at myself. 'That shows just how much I care about winning. But it doesn't mean I need to take it out on Oscar. I don't get into those kinds of (intimidatory) things. Norris pictured during Friday's practice session at the Grand Prix of Hungary in Mogyorod 'If I don't beat him, I don't beat him. I will do it the way I believe is best for me. If others have done it differently, it doesn't mean I have to do it that way.' Norris was quickest in both practice sessions on Friday. Nobody will remember that in 200 years, but it was a good sign for the next 48 hours. If Lando can hold his nerve.
Times
21 minutes ago
- Times
Where did it go wrong for Louis Rees-Zammit in the NFL?
As recently as February Louis Rees-Zammit refused even to consider abandoning his NFL dream. 'I'm not ready to give this up and I don't think I ever will be,' he insisted. Less than six months later he is heading back to rugby. What happened? The answer is multifaceted but rooted in one key truth: Rees-Zammit was always trying to scale an incredibly perilous mountain. There is no precedent for a twentysomething athlete turning his hand to the NFL and finding any meaningful success as a wide receiver. In fact, there are countless examples of college stars who spent their formative years appearing to master the art before earning a much-coveted first-round Draft pick, only to flop at the highest level: Treylon Burks, Jalen Reagor, N'Keal Harry, John Ross, Laquon Treadwell, Josh Doctson — and that's just in the past decade. An 18-month journey — in which Rees-Zammit remarkably missed only one Wales victory — was pockmarked with bumps in the road. For starters, his high-profile signing for the Kansas City Chiefs in March last year quickly turned sour when they asked him to play running back. The 24-year-old had spent the entire International Player Pathway scheme learning to be a receiver. He then landed with the Jacksonville Jaguars, which seemed a match made in heaven given the franchise's British connection as 'London's team', but the entire coaching staff changed during this off-season, so any impression he had made last year quickly dissipated. They then drafted Travis Hunter — the best player in college last season — to complement Brian Thomas Jr, so the Jags now have two of the NFL's most exciting young wide receivers in recent memory. It was two months before the Draft that Rees-Zammit sat in a Florida hotel room, having signed a new contract with the Jaguars, adamant that he would not be gracing a rugby pitch any time soon. 'I didn't just leave rugby just to try it for a year,' he said. 'People would be pretty dumb to think that I'd leave straight away.' And then: 'This was always my dream and I want this to be the thing I do for the rest of my career.' That stance soon changed. In an interview with talkSPORT six weeks ago, Rees-Zammit said: 'International players get probably two to three years to make it in the NFL, so I wanted to do it at a time where I maybe could come back to rugby. I'm 24 now, probably got one to two more years to try to make it depending on how this year goes. I'll be 25, 26 when I go back to rugby.' Still six months shy of his 25th birthday, the Welshman is looking for a rugby team before the start of the new season and it's difficult to argue with his decision to return. A reported back injury could have disrupted his entire training camp and prevented him from making any pre-season appearances, which are his only realistic opportunities to impress his coaches. After that, another season on the practice squad beckons, complete with inevitable thoughts of: 'Am I wasting my best years here?' Rees-Zammit will probably have no shortage of suitors in Britain and France — he's still young and left rugby as arguably one of the best wingers in the world — but while the frustration of not living his dream will linger for some time, perhaps more galling is the timing of his ill-fated sojourn. Had he known that he would spend only a year and a half across the Atlantic, there is no way Rees-Zammit would have chosen the 18 months just gone — a period that neatly encapsulated the two Six Nations campaigns leading up to a Lions tour, as well as the tour itself. Back in January 2024, the day before he dropped the bombshell news that he was leaving, very few pundits would have drawn up a Lions squad that didn't include 'Rees Lightning'. He may get another chance to tour, possibly two, but the only thing we know for certain is that he wasn't part of a squad that is 80 minutes away from completing a historic whitewash in Australia. Given the way things have panned out, that is a bitter pill to swallow.
