Warren Gatland has admitted that he is “unsure” if Wales superstar Louis Rees-Zammit will crack the nod in the NFL following the winger’s bombshell switch on Tuesday afternoon.
Rees-Zammit made the shock announcement that he would be stepping away from rugby union to pursue a potential career in American football, on the same day that Gatland unveiled Wales’ squad for the upcoming Six Nations.
The 22-year-old had emerged as one of Welsh rugby’s brightest young talents, excelling for Gloucester, Wales and the British and Irish Lions.
“There aren’t a lot of people who make it in the NFL who haven’t been brought up with the game and played it at a young age,” Wales coach Gatland said.
“There’s probably not a lot of difference with rugby league players [trying to play union] – unless you’ve been brought up playing union, some are able to make it but very few. So it’s going to be a challenge for him, but good luck to him.”
Rees-Zammit will attempt to follow in the footsteps of former England wing Christian Wade, progressed from the international pathway to join the Buffalo Bills five years ago, but did not play in a regular season game.
“We saw Christian Wade do it and if you look at rugby league, there was [ex-rugby league star] Jarryd Hayne from Australia who had a few games but wasn’t really able to crack it,” Gatland said.
“Christian got quite close to doing it. He was a bit older though. Louis sees it as an opportunity at his age – and if he doesn’t take that chance now, it probably won’t come around again.
“I don’t know enough about the game. I don’t watch much NFL. I’m just a casual fan like a lot of people I might watch the Super Bowl,” Gatland added.
“But he’s been a big fan as a youngster and he’s got a high profile away from the game in terms of social media, so this probably helps him enhance that, I’m not saying that’s a negative at all.”
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