Louis Rees-Zammit is forging a path in the NFL now
Former Wales hooker Scott Baldwin has criticised the treatment of Wales star Louis Rees-Zammit during the early days of his career.
Former Wales wing Rees-Zammit was told he would never play for Wales by former Cardiff defence coach Richard Hodges when he was in the club’s academy. The rest is history, with Rees-Zammit moving to England where he took the Gallagher Premiership by storm with Gloucester before winning 32 caps for Wales and touring South Africa with the British & Irish Lions in 2021.
Rees-Zammit sensationally quit rugby union for a shot at the NFL early last year but things could have been very different for the 24-year-old.
Baldwin, who is now head coach of Super Rygbi Cymru club Bridgend, took to Instagram to criticise Cardiff’s approach to Rees-Zammit in those formative years.
“Happens too much, another example is Leigh Halfpenny,” said Baldwin. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
“No coach at any age has the right to try and kill someone’s dream!
“Imagine Louis Rees-Zammit and Pence (Halfpenny) had listened to those coaches!
“I also got told by a coach while at Ospreys a similar thing, luckily he left before he could get rid of me.”
Rees-Zammit reposted Baldwin’s post on his own Instagram reel.
Former Wales and British & Irish Lions legend Halfpenny was not offered a contract by the Ospreys at a young age but luckily got picked up by Cardiff.
If Rees-Zammit had listened to Hodges’ opinion a successful career would have been flushed down the toilet before it had even began.
The Jacksonville Jaguars star appeared as a guest of the latest episode of The Overlap’s Stick To Rugby podcast, where he spoke about the period prior to him receiving his first international cap. Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news stories sent straight to your inbox with our FREE daily newsletter. Sign up here.
Rees-Zammit was asked about how he signed for Gloucester’s academy from Cardiff Blues (as they were known at the time, now Cardiff Rugby). The winger explained that having gone through the system at Cardiff Schools and Cardiff Blues under-16s, he came to the realisation he wanted to attend Hartpury College in Gloucester.
However, the former Wales star claimed that Cardiff Blues gave him a stark ultimatum: “If you go across the bridge, you’re not allowed to play for Cardiff.”
“I ended up just making the decision to leave Cardiff Blues,” explained Rees-Zammit. Join WalesOnline Rugby’s WhatsApp Channel here to get the breaking news sent straight to your phone for free
“I went over to Hartpury College, and then within two weeks I had a trial at Gloucester, their academy.
“Before that, when they ended up making the decision to leave Cardiff Blues and go to Hartpury, it was a tough decision, because there is one person that told me that I would never play for Wales.”
“That one person who told you that you would never play for Wales, have you seen them recently? Do you want to name and shame him now or not?” asked England legend Lawrence Dallaglio.
“It’s Richard Hodges,” answered Rees-Zammit. “He was obviously the Cardiff Blues head of academy at the time.”
“100% they were trying to scare me,” he added.
“They said it to me and my dad. I went to watch a Cardiff Blues game as a fan and he said that to me and my dad after. It kind of actually just put me off it, (I thought) I’m definitely going over there now now.”
