WALES CUB CAN ROAR LIKE A LION
Davies backs Rees-Zammit
WELSH wonder Louis ReesZammit can be a matchwinner for the British & Irish Lions should the tour to South Africa go ahead.
That is the belief of Jonathan Davies after watching the young Gloucester wing’s stunning twotry performance against Scotland.
Wales legend Davies remembers how the late JJ Williams cashed in on his sprinter’s speed on the hard grounds of South Africa with the victorious 1974 Lions.
And he believes ReesZammit has the wheels to cause similar damage to Williams, who scored four tries in the ‘Invincibles’ series win.
“Who knows if the tour will go ahead or not this summer, but right now we have to hope and assume that it will,” said
Davies. “And if it does, on the back of what Louis did at the weekend, he’s in everybody’s team. If it’s on the hard grounds of South Africa, he’ll do exceptionally well.” Davies was at Murrayfield working for the BBC when ReesZammit went half the length of the pitch, chipped Stuart Hogg and beat the Scotland captain to the scoring touch.
“A star is born,” Davies told 6.5million BBC viewers. “I think he’s played himself on to a Lions tour if they go.”
Three days on, the dust has settled and Davies is no less effusive in his praise of a player who only turned 20 a fortnight ago.
England are up next for unbeaten Wales and Davies believes they will be the favourites in Cardiff on Saturday week. But in Rees-Zammit, he thinks that Wales have the hottest prospect in the championship.
“He’s an out-and-out finisher,” said Davies. “He’s got electrifying pace and he knows where the try-line is.
“Some players have got the knack, some haven’t. He seems to have it. That second try against the Scots was pure gas. He just blitzed down the wing, total confidence in his speed. Yeah, the bounce favoured him on the chip-and-chase but you make your own luck. It was a brilliant finish.”
Rees-Zammit has played 33 games for Gloucester and Wales since his first-team debut for the Cherry & Whites at 17.
“The way he finishes moves, the way he stands people up and goes round them, he’s the real deal,” Davies added. “He still struggles a little bit defensively because he’s young. That will come. But he’s a natural finisher.”