Louis Rees-Zammit reveals shock England rugby approach after getting Wales ultimatum
Louis Rees-Zammit reveals shock England rugby approach after getting Wales ultimatum
Former Wales star Louis Rees-Zammit has looked back at the formative years of his rugby career
The former Wales rugby winger was approached by England before Wales.
(Image: Stick To Rugby - YouTube )
Louis Rees-Zammit has revealed he was told he would never play for Wales and was approached by Eddie Jones to play for England.
The Jacksonville Jaguars star appeared as a guest of the latest episode of The Overlap's Stick To Rugby podcast, where he spoke about the period prior to him receiving his first international cap. Rees-Zammit is going into his second season of American football, and has been in the UK doing work for Jaguars in London ahead of their return there next season. He also took the opportunity to chat with Tom Shanklin, Katy Daly-McLean and Lawrence Dallaglio about his journey so far.
Rees-Zammit was asked about how he signed for Gloucester's academy from Cardiff Blues (as they were known at the time, now Cardiff Rugby). The winger explained that having gone through the system at Cardiff Schools and Cardiff Blues under-16s, he came to the realisation he wanted to attend Hartpury College in Gloucester.
However, the former Wales star claimed that Cardiff Blues gave him a stark ultimatum: "If you go across the bridge, you're not allowed to play for Cardiff."
"I ended up just making the decision to leave Cardiff Blues," explained Rees-Zammit on Stick to Rugby. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
"I went over to Hartpury College, and then within two weeks I had a trial at Gloucester, their academy.
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"Before that, when they ended up making the decision to leave Cardiff Blues and go to Hartpury, it was a tough decision, because there is one person that told me that I would never play for Wales.
"But I sat down with my family and told them I want to go to Hartpury because of how well known it is for producing great players and a good education as well.
"I went to do A-levels there, and after a day I knew all the rugby players had done a BTEC, so instantly I switched to do a BTEC, which is quite funny, because all of my classes were with all the rugby boys, so you can imagine what the rooms were like. The studying in the library was not really there, we were just fully focused on our rugby at that point. Two weeks in, I joined Gloucester, did the academy."
"That one person who told you that you would never play for Wales, have you seen them recently? Do you want to name and shame him now or not?" joked Dallaglio.
"It's Richard Hodges," answered Rees-Zammit. "He was obviously the Cardiff Blues head of academy at the time."
"You could do the Pretty Woman: *huge mistake*!" joked Dallaglio.
"I suppose the theory behind it is that they really wanted you to stay and they were probably trying to scare you a little bit," clarified Shanklin.
"100% they were trying to scare me," answered Rees-Zammit. "They said it to me and my dad. I went to watch a Cardiff Blues game as a fan and he said that to me and my dad after. It kind of actually just put me off it, (I thought) I'm definitely going over there now now."
"Everyone wants you to be a rugby player but they shouldn't take away your education at the same time," explained Dallaglio.
"Especially in rugby clubs, and they're no different in England as well, by the way. They want you to spend more time around the first team if you're talented, like you are, and you're young. So they say: 'Don't worry, we'll support your education', but they're not really thinking like that to be honest with you. What they should say is: 'Carry on getting your degree, finish it, and when you're ready, we'll have you'."
Also on the show, Rees-Zammit revealed that it was actually former England boss Eddie Jones who first enquired about his international eligibility, following a string of impressive performances for Gloucester in the English Premiership.
"Actually, Eddie Jones rang me first to play for England," revealed Rees-Zammit. "I think Wales found out about that and within a day I had (Wayne) Pivac call me."
"Was this in the Six Nations?" asked Shanklin.
"Yes," confirmed Rees-Zammit. "It was more that I wasn't actually English-qualified, but Eddie Jones was asking if I was and if I wanted to be involved, because I actually did an England camp when I was younger."
"How long have you been at Gloucester at that point?" asked Dallaglio. "Two years," answered Rees-Zammit.
"So it was only one more year and you would have been English-qualified?" asked Dallaglio. "Yes, it was," responded the Welshman.
Rees-Zammit also went on to explain that he did a full Wales campaign without playing a single minute. During the 2020 Six Nations, which the pandemic impacted, he was with the squad for the entirety of the tournament, but was not selected by Pivac.
"I never got picked, I never got capped," he added. "I would have still been 18 so I would've been one of the youngest players and it didn't turn out to happen. But then in the autumn internationals, played France away and that was my debut for Wales."
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If you would like to watch the full episode of Stick To Rugby, click here.
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