The 20-year-old Gloucester flyer has become Wales’ chief executioner in this season’s championship and has now scored the match-winning try in successive wins over Ireland and Scotland.
But it wasn’t just his two tries or man of the match award that made things go crazy for him after the game. That was also caused by rugby legends Jonathan Davies and Jeremy Guscott agreeing that “a star is born” in their post-match assessment of him on TV.
“I turned my phone on for a split second, and yeah it was going mad! I’m not focussed on that, though, I’m enjoying the win with the boys,” said Rees-Zammit.
“We’ve worked so hard as a group to try and get a performance and wins. We know it wasn’t pretty, but all that matters is getting the five points.”
Next up is a tilt at the Triple Crown against England at Principality Stadium, when he could find himself playing against his Gloucester team mate Jonny May.
“I train with him every day, and learn a lot from him. It’s going to be interesting to actually play against him,” added Rees-Zammit.
“I did in the autumn, but he wasn’t the opposite winger. It’s a bit different this time and it should be a good show – I’m sure Jonny will say he’s excited to play against me, and I’m the same.”
May was one of England’s try scorers in the home win over Italy at the weekend, diving in spectacularly at the left corner for his 32nd Test try. Now it will be ‘Master v Apprentice’ if they square up to each other in the Welsh capital in Round 3.
Already half-way to Shane Williams’ Welsh record of six tries in a Six Nations campaign, Rees-Zammit is not getting carried away. His feet are still firmly on the ground and he isn’t getting carried away with thoughts of trophies just yet.
“We’ve got a massive game against England and then have Italy and France away. They’re going to be two big Tests as well,” he said.
“We’re going to be as motivated as ever to go into that game and try and get a win. The boys will be absolutely buzzing and we’ll go all guns blazing and, hopefully, we put on a performance that gets a result.
“It helps getting the first two wins, but by no means does that win you the trophy. It’s head-down now, back to training on and then put in a performance against England.
“We’re not starting very well and we need to come out the blocks a lot harder. We lacked a lot of discipline for a 20-minute period against the Irish and Scots and they took the lead.
“Thankfully, we’re coming out the blocks hard in the second half. We’re going to try and replicate that from the starting whistle.”
His second, solo try in the 70th minute showcased his scintillating pace and nose for the try line – a candidate for try of the season as he left Scottish skipper Stuart Hogg treading walker in a high speed chase.
“I didn’t see that coming at all, it was very special. I’m loving it, especially being able to do it for my country,” he said.
“It means so much to me and my family and, hopefully, I can do it again in our next few games. I’d say that’s top of the list of tries I’ve scored.
“I was calling for the ball nice and early as I saw there was a lot of space on the outside. Thankfully, Willis (Halaholo) gave it to me and I tried to use my gas to get on the outside of their winger.
“I did that and then saw there was no backfield cover, which is always nice to see. It gives you that opportunity to kick it through and try and get the bounce and it bounced up lovely for me!”
With the wins over Ireland and Scotland, Alun Wyn Jones’ side have got off to a flying start in 2021 after a difficult time last year. Rees-Zammit had his first taste of being in the Welsh squad in the 2020 Six Nations campaign, but had to wait until the autumn to win his first cap.
Louis Rees-Zammit leaves the Scotland defence in his wake
“The first two campaigns were building for this. There’s been a lot of different line-ups, and Wayne (Pivac), Stephen (Jones) and Gethin (Jenkins) and all the other management are setting up how they want us to play,” he added.
“It’s starting to click a bit now. We’re nowhere near the finished article and, hopefully, we’ll show that in the next few games and can put on a performance that is worthy of that.
“We’ve worked so hard in training and it’s all starting to come together now. We’re not overly happy with our performances in the first couple of weeks – we’ve got a lot of work-ons. We’ll take that into the next week and the week after and build towards England.”
His performances over the past two weekends have proved, even at the tender age of 20, he is able to transfer his sparkling form at Gloucester onto the international stage. That said, he is the first to admit Test rugby is a big step up from playing in the Premiership.
“It’s a lot different, the physicality and the speed of the game. When I first came into camp for the last Six Nations it was a shock, even in training,” he admitted.
“Obviously I didn’t play, but in training I was blowing after five minutes! I’ve worked with the S&C squad and all the management and I am a lot fitter now.
“I was playing against one of my Gloucester team-mates, Chris Harris, at Murrayfield and there were a few other Premiership players involved, like Stuart Hogg. The intensity is a lot different at international level, but similar players. It’s still very hard to play against guys like that.”
