By Kasey Rees
Two years ago, when Wales beat Ireland at the Principality Stadium to secure a Grand Slam title, a teenager was sat amongst fans dreaming of playing alongside his heroes.
Fast forward to this year’s Guinness Six Nations tournament and Louis Rees-Zammit is the name amongst the headline acts after producing some exciting rugby whenever he gets the ball.
It has been a meteoric rise for the 20-year-old – from club to country, impressing fans with his clinical finishing and lightening pace. Now, he has the chance to help many of the players he watched in 2019 move one step closer to another Slam.
“Two years ago, I would have never thought this would be the situation I’d be in,” says the Gloucester flier.
“But I am, so I have to live with it and show everybody what I am about.
“I have gone to loads of games since I was a kid with my parents, as I only live 10 minutes away from the stadium.
“I have grown up supporting Wales and now its brilliant. I was at the England game two years ago, in the top of the stands when Josh Adams scored in the corner celebrating, and the Ireland game too.
“They were two really good games to go to. To beat England at home means a lot but winning the Grand Slam match against Ireland was an amazing achievement for Welsh rugby.
“I don’t know if I’d actually made my club debut then, but I was definitely watching in the stadium. It has all come very fast and I am loving it, to be honest.”
Wales travel to Rome on Saturday to face Italy, and after securing the Triple Crown against England they remain on course for what could be a repeat of the 2019 tournament.
The Cardiff-born wing insists Wales are focussed on the game ahead and are not thinking of the final game in Paris.
“We have worked hard to get into this position, we have a big game ahead of us and are not focussed on the Grand Slam as we are taking each game at a time.
“It’s all about momentum and winning at home against Ireland and then going up to Scotland and doing the job up there, really helped us in terms of momentum.
“Thankfully, we got the win against England as well, so were in good stead for this weekend.
“Players in the backline have helped me out massively in attack and defence, so going up against Italy will be a really good test.
“We know what they can bring, they like to control their 9s and 10s and in attack we know what power we’ve got. The execution just needs to be on point.”
Coach Wayne Pivac has only made two changes to the side that beat England, 40-26, two weeks ago in Cardiff.
Cory Hill replaces Adam Beard in the second row, and Gareth Davies starts at number nine, replacing Kieran Hardy, who will miss the remaining two games due to a hamstring injury.
Pivac has resisted the option of resting more players ahead of the France game, with Rees-Zammit joining Josh Adams and Liam Williams as the back three.
Italy have made six changes to their side, with Welsh-born Stephen Varney returning to the number nine jersey after suffering a warm-up injury against Ireland last month.
Wing Mattia Bellini comes in as well as props Danilo Fischetti and Giosue Zilocchi replacing Andrea Lovotti and Marco Riccioni.
In the second row, Niccolo Cannone takes over from Marco Lazzaroni.
Rees Zammit is relishing the opportunity to play against his Gloucester teammate Varney.
“It definitely helps knowing how he plays. He’s a big part of Italy’s team. It’s easier for me knowing how he plays.
“I am looking forward to seeing him again. I love Steve, he’s a brilliant lad and is doing really well for club and country.”
On their last meeting in Rome, Wales were held to a 26-15 scoreline compared to the win of 42-0 in their last Six Nations meeting.
Italy haven’t won a game in the Six Nations since beating Scotland in 2015 but have shown a glimpse of improvement throughout this year’s tournament despite being bottom of the table.
Wales are currently top with 14 points and should they win on the weekend it would set up a mouth-watering Grand Slam and likely title decider in Paris next weekend, provided France beat England at Twickenham.
Italy: Jacopo Trulla; Mattia Bellini, Juan Ignacio Brex, Carlo Canna, Monty Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Stephen Varney: Danilo Fischetti, Luca Bigi (c), Giosue Zilocchi, Niccola Cannone, David Sisi, Sebastian Negri, Johan Meyer, Michele Lamaro.
Replacements: Oliviero Fabiani, Andrea Lovotti, Marco Riccioni, Marco Lazzaroni, Maxime Mbanda, Marcello Violi, Federico Mori, Edoardo Padovani.
Wales: Liam Williams; Louis Rees-Zammit, George North, Jonathan Davies, Josh Adams; Dan Biggar, Gareth Davies; Wyn Jones, Ken Owens, Tomas Francis; Cory Hill, Alun Wyn Jones (C); Josh Navidi, Justin Tipuric, Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements: Elliot Dee, Rhys Carre, Leon Brown, Jake Ball, Aaron Wainwright, Lloyd Williams, Callum Sheedy, Willis Halaholo.
