Josh Adams has lavished praise on his fellow wing Louis Rees-Zammit as he prepares for a return to Wales’ starting lineup against Italy.
Rees-Zammit burst on to the Six Nations scene with four tries during Wales’ title-winning campaign last season. This year, though, has proved a totally different experience, suffering an ankle knock during the warm-up against Ireland, playing in Wales’ first two games and then being omitted from the match-day 23 for a Twickenham appointment with England.
The 21-year-old featured as a second-half replacement in last week’s narrow loss to grand slam-chasing France, and he will now start at the Principality Stadium against Italy on Saturday.
“I think his reaction to not being selected for the England game has been terrific,” said Adams. “He went back to his club at Gloucester and came off the bench to score a wonderful try. I think he did everything asked of him.
“He came on against France and made a great impact, and that is what you want. He had a couple of really nice touches and looked dangerous. I said at the beginning of the campaign that he is a massive weapon for us. He’s only 21, which is crazy”
Despite losing three Six Nations games out of four, Wales could finish third if they see off Italy with a bonus-point and results involving England and Scotland work in their favour.
The Wales captain, Dan Biggar, who wins his 100th cap on Saturday, believes that last season’s Six Nations champions have shown attacking glimpses, despite collecting only five tries in four games, whereas they claimed 20 touchdowns last year.
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“I thought we moved the ball quite well against France, England and Scotland, but we haven’t quite got that final pass or final bit of movement,” Biggar said. “We also know that 12 months ago when we won the title, we scored the most tries we have ever scored going to a championship success.
“I know it is all about the here and now, but people have also got short memories. We scored a lot of tries and points from moving the ball 12 months ago, and we haven’t quite got it how we want it. We are frustrated with that as well. Hopefully, that is something we can really work on and produce it on Saturday.”