'He chats so much s*** on the pitch' - the England star that 'went' in for LRZ

While professional rugby is an altogether more sanitised workplace these days, there's still room for on field chat and 'niggle' between players.

While omnipresent cameras have banished more violent modes of engagement to a bygone era, low-level s***housery is still part of the game.

Welsh winger Louis Rees-Zammit - who has returned to the rugby field with Gloucester this month after a busy summer that saw him touring South Africa with the British & Irish Lions - has experienced plenty in his short career to date.

Rees-Zammit who sat down for a in-depth chat on the RugbyPass Offload podcast, was asked was he an easy player to wind-up on the pitch. "I'm actually not. When it comes to the game I don't listen to anyone."

That's not to say players don't try to get under his skin. Harlequins' angelic looking flyhalf Marcus Smith, who Rees-Zammit faced in last season's Premiership was one that had a cut off the young Welshman in search of a reaction.

"Marcus Smith, I remember the last time I played against him, he proper went in for me," Rees-Zammit told the Glasgow Warriors Ryan Wilson and Bristol Bears prop Max Lahiff.

"He shoved my head in the ground. He was doing all sorts to me. I kind of laughed at it and carried on with my game.

"Marcus Smith chats so much shit on the pitch. It's unbelievable. Then he comes off the field and he's a legend. It's weird," laughed Rees-Zammit.

"I can't imagine Marcus Smith rubbing people's faces into the ground. He doesn't have that kind of face." remarked Lahiff, who faced the Quins playmaker last weekend and lost: "He's quite American on the pitch. Like 'YEAH, YEAH!" You can really hear him like fist-pumping and stuff".

LRZ didn't feature in the British & Irish Test series and is eager get back out on the field. While he's been at Gloucester since 2018, he is still one of the bright young things of the Gallagher Premiership.