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'None of us had heard from him': May on LRZ's emotional club exit
By Josh Raisey
Two weeks have passed since former Wales winger Louis Rees-Zammit shocked the rugby world by confirming his immediate departure to join the NFL's International Player Pathway, and his fledgling American football career is already well underway.
It was a move that caught Wales coach Warren Gatland completely off guard just an hour before he was set to name his Wales squad for the Guinness Six Nations, but the Kiwi was not the only person to be left stunned by the revelation.
Rees-Zammit's former Gloucester teammate Jonny May recently recounted the 22-year-old's exit just days after scoring against Edinburgh in the Challenge Cup. In his column for the Six Nations website, the former England winger said how the club assumed the Welshman had been given the week off after his no-show on Monday, before he came in to give an emotional farewell.
"We came back into training on a Monday following an away game in Edinburgh – in which Zam had played well and scored a great solo try – and he wasn’t there," May wrote.
"None of us had heard from him. We thought he may have been given a week off, because we’ve been rotating, but then Skivs [head coach George Skivington] said “Zam’s going to come in and talk to you all”.
"He was quite emotional when he spoke, saying it was the toughest decision he’s ever had to make, but that his days as a Gloucester player were over. Now he’s gone, and it’s weird not having him at the club every day."
Footage emerged last week of Rees-Zammit in his 10-week training camp in Miami, where he has until April to be recruited by a team in time for the next NFL season in August.
This has all unfolded remarkably quickly, and May's account only shows how this move caught everyone in the game out.
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Latest Comments
Sam Cane is a superstar, someone New Zealand should be proud of. How unfair to always compare him to Richie, like saying Mother Theresa is ok, but she's no Jesus. Let's not forget, Sam started in 2012 around the time Richie was probably starting to think, this will be my last world cup cycle if you think he didn't have a big say in who the backup 7 would be and who was best to take over from him after 2015 then you don't understand how clever and forward thinking the man was. Sam Cane was Richie's choice, as apprentice and replacement. Not many people can say they are a better judg Anyone who understands rugby knows the loosies are a trio picked to complement each other, not 3 guys who score trys and make line breaks. No doubt Sam would love to be doing what Ardie does, that's not what was required of him. He had to hit rucks hard , force turnovers and tackle like an animal On defence, that's what he did.
Go to commentsThis article overlooks how the 9 position has developed to be a playmaker, which these 2 are both excellent at. Defences are so good now there is not the luxury of going 9 -> 10 on every play. Playing “off 9” as they say, has become very commonplace these days, but 10+ years ago you hardly saw this. Boiling the great modern 9s down to box kicking doesn’t do justice to how good the great ones have become. Dupont would be the first choice 10 in most teams in the world, JGP pops up in places you would never expect a 9 to be.
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