Rees-Zammit adopts unorthodox and wildly illegal tactic to stop Atonio scoring
No rugby player on planet Earth wanted to find themself in the position Louis Rees-Zammit found himself in in the second half at the Stade de France on Saturday.
With the French surging, and already with a 20-7 lead, the ball was spun to 152kg tighthead Uini Atonio, who had a fair amount of space around him and only about two metres to go to the line. Oh, and only the fullback Rees-Zammit was there to stop him.
Knowing the odds were stacked against him, the Welshman opted a strange tactic which is known in some quarters as ‘punch them really hard in the stomach and hope for the best.’
With a fair amount of body mass to aim at, the 22-year-old swung his right arm into the midriff of the player almost 65kg heavier than him as he was in the process of diving over the line. Just like most of Wales’ efforts in Paris, it made no impact at all on the prop, who scored.
Of course, this was actually an attempt to dislodge the ball, but he did not get very close, and he was inevitably going to hit his belly.
Take a look:
up and a try for ANTONIOOOO!
Is there any way back for @WelshRugbyUnion ？#GuinnessSixNations | #ITVRugby pic.twitter.com/F9f7QNE3pC
— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) March 18, 2023
FRANCE XV
15. Thomas Ramos
14. Damian Penaud
13. Gael Fickou
12. Jonathan Danty
11. Ethan Dumortier
10. Romain Ntamack
9. Antoine Dupont
1. Cyril Baille
2. Julien Marchand
3. Uini Atonio
4. Thibaud Flament
5. Romain Taofifenua
6. Francois Cros
7. Charles Ollivon
8. Gregory Alldritt
REPLACEMENTS
16. Peato Mauvaka
17. Reda Wardi
18. Sipili Falatea
19. Bastien Chalureau
20. Sekou Macalou
21. Maxime Lucu
22. Yoram Moefana
23. Melvyn Jaminet
15. Louis Rees-Zammit (Gloucester Rugby / Caerloyw– 24 caps)
14. Josh Adams (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 48 caps)
13. George North (Ospreys / Gweilch– 112 caps)
12. Nick Tompkins (Saracens – 26 caps)
11. Rio Dyer (Dragons / Dreigiau – 6 caps)
10. Dan Biggar (Toulon – 106 caps)
9. Rhys Webb (Ospreys / Gweilch– 39 caps)
1. Wyn Jones (Scarlets – 47 caps)
2. Ken Owens (Scarlets – 90 caps) captain / capten
3. Tomas Francis (Ospreys / Gweilch– 70 caps)
4. Adam Beard (Ospreys / Gweilch – 45 caps)
5. Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys / Gweilch – 157 caps)
6. Aaron Wainwright (Dragons / Dregiau– 36 caps)
7. Justin Tipuric (Ospreys / Gweilch – 92 caps)
8. Taulupe Faletau (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 99 caps)
Replacements
16. Bradley Roberts (Dragons / Dreigiau – 4 caps)
17. Gareth Thomas (Ospreys / Gweilch– 20 caps)
18. Dillon Lewis (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd– 49 caps)
19. Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter Chiefs / Caerwysg – 5 caps)
20. Tommy Reffell (Leicester Tigers / Caerlŷr – 8 caps)
21. Tomos Williams (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd– 44 caps)
22. Owen Williams (Ospreys / Gweilch– 6 caps)
23. Leigh Halfpenny (Scarlets – 98 caps)
