11 hours ago
12
Sophie Hurcom
BBC Sport, West
Bristol Bears have signed Wales winger Louis Rees-Zammit for the 2025-26 Prem Rugby season as he returns to the sport following 18 months in the NFL.
The 24-year-old left rugby union in January 2024 to pursue a career in American football and was on the training squads of the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars, but did not play in a regular-season game.
Rees-Zammit, capped 32 times by Wales, spent six years at Bristol's local rivals Gloucester before being released from his contract to join the NFL's International Player Pathway.
"Bristol Bears was the obvious choice for me. The style of rugby the team play - all about entertaining the fans and growing the game - perfectly aligns to how I want to play and how I express myself on and off the field," he said.
"I want to get fans out of their seats, create exciting moments and help people fall in the love with the game. I'm excited to return to rugby at a club that demands those values."
Rees-Zammit will join up with the Bristol squad on Saturday, with their Prem season starting on 28 September against Leicester.
He was in the Cardiff Rugby academy and then moved to Hartpury College, making his Gloucester debut a couple of months after his 18th birthday.
He made his international debut in 2020 aged 19, with his pace and try-scoring ability quickly garnering headlines.
Rees-Zammit has scored 14 tries for Wales, was part of their Six Nations title-winning side in 2021 and featured for them at the 2023 World Cup, while he also toured with the British and Irish Lions in 2021.
For the Cherry and Whites he scored 42 tries in 77 matches.
He initially signed for the four-time Superbowl champions the Chiefs, but was cut in 2024 and joined the Jacksonville Jaguars as part of their practice squad.
After briefly leaving the Jaguars at the end of 2024, he re-signed for them in 2025, before ending his NFL adventure and heading back to rugby union.
In signing for Bristol next season he joins one of the renamed Gallagher Prem's most dynamic attacking squads.
Director of rugby Pat Lam described Rees-Zammit as a "world-class player".
"He has the drive and ambition to be one of the best back-three players in the world, and his goals align perfectly with our ambitions as a club," he said,
"At just 24 years old, we know the athlete and competitor he is. The way we play and the way he wants to play fit seamlessly together, and we're looking forward to working with him."
During 2024-25 the Bears scored 635 points, second only to champions Bath, but 60 points more than any other team.
Their 95 tries, averaging 5.3 per game, was the joint-highest in the division. They topped the stats for the campaign with most metres made at 10,458m, which was 1,500m more than the next best side, and also for the most defenders beaten (567).
Bristol have three other wingers in their squad in Gabriel Ibitoye, Jack Bates and Kalaveti Ravouvou, although the latter played the majority of last season at centre.
New Wales head coach Steve Tandy has already said Rees-Zammit could be in contention for a return to the national side as soon as this autumn's internationals.
