Louis Rees-Zammit Admits Wales Must Build on ‘Little Wins’ Moving Forward

It was yet more Six Nations misery last time out against France, imposed on Steve Tandy’s side, who fell to a 54-12 defeat. To use a boxing cliche here, Wales have started the Championship on the back foot.

Against England, Tandy’s side never looked likely until Josh Adams scored in the second half, but even then, they were still easily beaten. In just the six games that the new head coach has overseen, Wales have conceded almost 50 tries and over 300 points.

However, Rees-Zammit states that the small improvements made against ‘Les Bleus’ have to be built on.

“We’ve seen improvements,” began Rees-Zammit at Wales’ training base in the Vale of Glamorgan.

“We’ve got to take confidence out of that performance (against France), you know, the little wins within the match.

This is the 25-year-old’s first Six Nations since 2023. This is due to his expedition across the Atlantic Ocean to try and break into the NFL.

He lasted 18 months in America, having spent time with the Kansas City Chiefs and the Jacksonville Jaguars. But he signed for Bristol in August after a monumental announcement about his return to rugby.

At the first time of asking during Tandy’s first squad selection, Rees-Zammit was recalled immediately. However, left international rugby following Wales's quarter-final run at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

But has returned at a time when Wales have only recorded wins against Japan. On whether there were any regrets returning to playing rugby, he added: “No regrets.

He made his international return at full-back against England at Allianz Stadium, and has been playing a lot for Bristol in the Gallagher Prem from 15.

“It’s more demanding than what I’m used to on the wing and club level. I’m enjoying it,” continued Rees-Zammit, who is joined by Josh Adams and Gabriel Hamer-Webb in an intriguing back-three.

Thanks to a format change for the 2026 edition of the Six Nations, in what would normally be a fallow week, Tandy’s side have been preparing for a contest for a third consecutive weekend.

This is in place to create an extra international weekend to support the new Nations Championship, in which Wales get their campaign underway against Fiji at the Cardiff City Stadium in July.

Wales now have solely one week off before heating up preparations for a trip to Dublin to challenge Ireland and face a resurgent Italian side a week later in Cardiff.

When questioned on whether the fullback wanted a week’s break, he added: “This is the first time I’ve actually done it, previously it was two weeks on, one week off, one week on, one week off, two weeks on.

“I don’t mind it, to be honest. Playing three games isn’t the end of the world.

“It kind of gives us more momentum in terms of like being able to go out there on a Saturday and being able to show what we can do as opposed to having a week off, and then having to try and rebuild it again.

Despite a poor start to the campaign, he firmly believes that there are positives to take from the autumn, where he made his international return against Argentina.

For the Six Nations so far, for many Welsh supporters, there will be little hope for the remainder of the tournament, but despite slow starts, Rees-Zammit sets his sights on his side producing more consistent performances.

“I thought we had some good performances in the autumn,” he continued.