There’s a line from Louis Rees-Zammit in his wonderful, insightful behind-the-scenes documentary which airs on BBC One Wales on Monday that stands out.

‘Rugby has been wonderful for me, however I would like extra,’ Rees-Zammit says. ‘I would like greater than rugby.’

How refreshing. On the eve of the World Cup and after a disastrous season dominated by off-field distress, rugby in each England and Wales wants gamers like Rees-Zammit.

In a sport too typically dominated by turgid media interviews and a reluctance to face out from the group, Rees-Zammit is likely one of the few ready to lift his head above the parapet.

To listen to one of many sport’s true potential superstars actually articulate his emotions forward of rugby’s greatest showpiece is to be given trigger for hope for the longer term.

Louis Rees-Zammit says he needs ‘greater than rugby’ in his behind-the-scenes documentary on BBC One Wales

The Welsh winger is likely one of the few trendy rugby gamers ready to lift his head above the parapet and say what he thinks

The 22-year-old tells Mail Sport he’s ‘absolutely centered’ on turning into one of the best participant on the planet 

It has been in brief provide lately, actually in British rugby. Three Premiership golf equipment went to the wall final season and there have been numerous different issues too.

Rugby wants superstars with a view to develop. Within the likes of Rees-Zammit, Marcus Smith and Canan Moodie, it has younger gamers ready to be tall poppies in a bid to make successes of themselves, their groups, and the game they play. They need to not be minimize down.

‘I am absolutely centered on turning into one of the best participant on the planet,’ Rees-Zammit tells MailSport.

And what about Wales on the World Cup? ‘I actually assume we have now the power to go the entire approach,’ Rees-Zammit provides.

No scarcity of confidence there.

However that’s Rees-Zammit, a person who’s conscious of his personal capacity and self-worth and is ready to do issues different gamers aren’t, each on and off the sector.

His documentary – which follows the Gloucester again’s rugby profession and his life away from the game – is his newest enterprise.

Rees-Zammit has additionally lately launched a brand new vitality drink enterprise. ‘I do know I most likely cannot retire from the cash in rugby so having companies on the aspect to enrich that’s wonderful,’ Rees-Zammit says.

‘Hopefully extra gamers can do documentaries and inform their tales. We positively have to develop the sport of rugby when it comes to providing behind-the-scenes footage and seeing what gamers must undergo to be skilled. It is not nearly rugby, it is about you as a human being.

‘I simply needed to encourage others and hopefully I’ve completed that.’

Rees-Zammit actually has a very good story to inform. 4 years in the past, the now 22-year-old was not even an expert participant. His rise with Gloucester, Wales and the Lions has been fast.

The BBC One Wales documentary refers to Rees-Zammit as Welsh rugby’s ‘new golden boy’ and it is ‘subsequent rockstar’

The documentary particulars his extraordinary highs – and a few lows – and refers to Rees-Zammit as Welsh rugby’s new ‘golden boy’ and its ‘subsequent rockstar.’

‘He is very un-Welsh in that he needs to place himself on the market,’ Wales fly-half Dan Biggar says of his team-mate. Rees-Zammit provides: ‘I play at my finest once I’m not eager about the dangers and I am simply eager about the rewards. Each time I get the ball, I need to do one thing with it.

‘Huge matches – deliver it on.

‘Rees-Zammit is a fan of American sports activities and has been impressed by collection like Netflix’s Quarterback which tells the tales of a few of the NFL’s greatest names.

‘Hopefully me doing a documentary and provoking different children to develop into skilled rugby gamers can develop the sport. That is what it is all about,’ he says.

With sponsorship offers with Adidas and BMW and lots of of hundreds of followers on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, Rees-Zammit is each inch the fashionable sportsman.

He’s the butt of his team-mates jokes for his love of a vacation, incomes the nickname ‘St Tropez away’. ‘I desire a good life,’ Rees-Zammit says within the documentary.

4 years in the past, Rees-Zammit was not even an expert participant. He has since represented Gloucester, Wales and the Lions

Because of his rugby capacity, Rees-Zammit has precisely that however even he has not had issues all his approach in his quick time in rugby thus far. He was dropped by former Wales head coach Wayne Pivac for the 2022 Six Nations recreation with England and was ‘actually f***** off’ to be so.

There have additionally been accidents, together with an ankle problem.

‘I am feeling the fittest I’ve ever felt, like I am on prime kind,’ says Rees-Zammit, who nonetheless lives at dwelling along with his mother and father Joe and Maxine in Llandaff.

‘All the things has come so shortly for me and I’ve simply been attempting to trip the wave. It is a pinch me second I will a World Cup. 4 years in the past, I wasn’t even an expert participant.

‘A World Cup is unbelievable and a dream come true. Social media is very large now. All the things is on there.

‘On the very begin of my profession I acquired a great deal of followers after my attempt towards Scotland. That gave me the chance to get totally different offers which has been wonderful. Occasions are altering.

‘I believe individuals are getting used to the social media aspect of sport which has gone to a different degree now. I believe numerous gamers are pushing it now. Which may not have been the case earlier than.’

One other of Rees-Zammit’s nicknames is ‘Rees-Lightning’ given his outstanding velocity. He has had a lightning bolt tattooed on his arm forward of the World Cup and his documentary exhibits him operating 100 metres in 10.44 seconds – a time that might have positioned him eighth within the UK Athletics males’s ultimate earlier this summer season.

Wales head coach Warren Gatland will hope Rees-Zammit leaves opposition defenders trailing in his wake in France, beginning towards Fiji in Bordeaux subsequent weekend.

Gatland’s aspect arrived at their Versailles coaching base in France on Sunday.

Rees-Zammit’s mother and father and brother Taylor will likely be supporting him on the sport’s greatest stage, as they’ve completed ever since he rose to the highest.

The 22-year-old has lots of of hundreds of followers on social media and thinks ‘individuals are getting used to the social media aspect of sport’

Wales coach Warren Gatland will likely be hoping Rees-Zammit can depart defenders in his wake on the World Cup in France

‘My household imply all the pieces to me,’ Rees-Zammit says. ‘I really like them a lot and so they’ve completed a lot for me, so I attempt to give again to them whether or not that is via a gift or enjoying properly on the weekend. So long as I could make them comfortable that is all that issues to me.

‘There are loads of kids who’re most likely going to gentle up the World Cup however I am absolutely centered on Wales to be trustworthy. Everybody has written us off.

‘That motivates us much more to be trustworthy. We’re all assured in ourselves. We have to go on the market and carry out and take into consideration ourselves and never all of the noise.

‘We have to have the power to flick the change and I believe we are going to.’

Being Louis Rees-Zammit airs on BBC One Wales at 9pm on Monday and can be accessible on BBC iPlayer