Rugby Lam hails 'outstanding' Rees-Zammit after cup win

LOUIS Rees-Zammit was in the thick of the action at a hostile Kingsholm as his new side Bristol Bears beat Gloucester Rugby 40-24 in the PREM Rugby Cup.

- John EVELY

As so often is the case in this travesty of a competition, the result was never in doubt the moment the teams were named as Cherry and Whites boss George Skivington opted to rest his stars with a short turnaround to their Gallagher PREM opener against Sale Sharks on Thursday night.

Despite the teams being mismatched on paper, Gloucester's spirited young academy bunch were up for a scrap from the off and, thanks to a strong second half, made a game of it.

Rees-Zammit, who left Gloucester in January of 2024 to pursue what turned out to be an unfulfilled dream of becoming an NFL player, was greeted by a chorus of boos from the moment his name was read out by the stadium announcer. The former Cherry and Whites golden boy quickly understood the night he was in for, and to his credit, took on the role of pantomime villain with good grace, for the most part, barring a significant off-the-ball scrap that earned him and scrappy young Welsh flanker Caio James each a yellow card just before halftime. The drama continued as the pair left the field, butting heads and spitting verbals. But the animosity towards Rees-Zammit provided the perfect bite and spice to turn essentially a preseason game into a very watchable affair.

Bears director of rugby Pat Lam was less happy with the treatment of his new star on his first start for the club, accusing the Gloucester players of 'targeting' his new signing.