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• Warren Gatland ‘no idea’ if Louis Rees-Zammit will return to rugby after NFL bid

  Wales boss Warren Gatland admits he has “no idea” if Louis Rees-Zammit will play rugby union again following his switch to American football.

  While Wales prepare for a Guinness Six Nations opener against Scotland, Rees-Zammit will be concentrating on the NFL’s International Player Pathway in the hope of forging a gridiron career.

  His move to the United States with immediate effect has left Wales and his club Gloucester without a box-office wing, whose try-scoring ability thrilled crowds on domestic, European and international stages.

  Rees-Zammit’s rugby union career comes to a halt after winning 32 Wales caps and a World Cup campaign in France when he scored five tries.

  Asked if the 22-year-old would come back to rugby one day, Gatland said: “No idea. 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.

  “There is probably not a lot of difference with rugby league players (trying to play union). Unless you have been brought up playing union, some are able to make it, but very few.

  “So it is going to be a challenge for him, but good luck to him.

  “We saw Christian Wade (ex-Wasps and England wing) do it, and if you look at rugby league, there was Jarryd Hayne from Australia who had a few games but wasn’t really able to crack it.

  “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.

  “We are disappointed to lose a talent like him, but we’ve just got to take that on the chin, move on and focus on the rest of the squad.

  “The last thing I can do is dwell on losing him, because the focus has got to be on preparing the squad for the first game.”

  Gatland believes that American football will see a player who is “a bit of a freak as an athlete” and someone who is still developing in the sporting arena.

  “I thought he was outstanding in the World Cup,” Gatland added. “The pleasing thing for me was that he hardly missed a training session and he was playing well.

  “He is probably a bit of a freak as an athlete. He is a freak physically and he gets a chance to challenge himself.

  “He has obviously been a big fan (of the NFL) as a youngster and he has got a very high profile away from the game in terms of social media, so this probably helps him enhance that. I am not saying that is a negative at all.”

  Another player who will not be part of Wales’ Six Nations squad is 21-year-old Exeter wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.

  Cardiff-born Feyi-Waboso qualifies for Wales and England, but he is believed to have been involved in a recent England alignment camp organised by head coach Steve Borthwick.

  He could now be named in Borthwick’s Six Nations squad, which is announced on Wednesday.

  Gatland said: “I didn’t personally speak to him. Mike Forshaw (Wales defence coach) had a conversation with him and he had expressed that he wanted to go down the English route, so good luck to him with that.

  “He has definitely got some talent, there is no doubt about it. He is as green as anything.

  “He has obviously had an approach from England, and he has decided to take that path.”

• On this day in 2018 – Christian Wade quits rugby in bid to launch NFL career

  Former England winger Christian Wade announced his retirement from rugby union at the age of 27 on this day in 2018 as he looked to launch an American football career.

  Wade, the fourth highest tryscorer in English club rugby on 82, was granted early release from his Wasps contract after nine years at the club to join NFL team the Buffalo Bills.

  In doing so he halved his salary from the £250,000 a year he was earning in the Gallagher Premiership. The move never took off on the field either as he failed to make the Bills’ roster.

  Slough-born Wade, who won his only England cap in 2013 against Argentina, described the decision to leave rugby as the hardest in his life.

  He said: “After playing nine years of professional sport for Wasps, I’ve decided to leave for personal reasons.

  “I would like to thank Wasps chairman Derek Richardson and Dai (Young, director of rugby) for their support, consideration and understanding in what is the most difficult decision of my life.

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  A post shared by Christian Wade (@christianwade3)

   

  “Rugby has privileged and honoured me with so many wonderful memories that will stay with me for the rest of my life.”

  Wasps were third in the Gallagher Premiership and bottom of their Heineken Champions Cup group when Wade, who as well as winning one England cap also represented the 2013 British and Irish Lions on their tour of Australia, announced he was leaving.

  “It’s very disappointing to lose a player of Wadey’s quality at this stage of the season,” Young said.

  “The club held numerous discussions with him to try and convince him to keep pushing forward with Wasps but in the end it was clear this is the path he wished to go down. The club nevertheless wants to wish him all the best with his future career path.”

  Using the NFL’s international player pathway program to facilitate the switch, Wade made waves by scoring a 65-yard touchdown as a running back in pre-season, but a regular season game eluded him.

  The experiment lasted three years and in September 2022 he returned to rugby after agreeing a deal to join French side Racing 92.

• A look at the greatest comebacks in sporting history

  Sheffield Wednesday’s miraculous comeback in the Sky Bet League One play-off semi-final against Peterborough, where they overturned a 4-0 first-leg deficit, was a reminder that anything can happen in sport.

  Here, the PA news agency takes a look at some of the best comebacks in sport.

  Botham’s Ashes

  England’s plight against Australia in the second Ashes Test in 1981 was so bad they had checked out of their hotel early ahead of an anticipated defeat. Enter Ian Botham. With his side 41 for four when following on, Botham played one of the great Test innings, smashing 149 to make Australia bat again and set an albeit modest target of 130. Enter Bob Willis. The fast bowler produced the spell of his lifetime, decimating the Australian batting order in taking eight wickets for 43 runs to seal a famous 18-run victory. Instead of being 2-0 down in the series, England went on to win 3-1.

  Miracle of Medinah

  It seemed impossible that the Ryder Cup would be returning home with Europe going into the final day of the bi-annual tournament in 2012. The United States had dominated the opening two days on their home soil of Medinah in Chicago, opening up a 10-4 lead in the race to 14.5 ahead of Sunday’s singles. But Spanish captain Jose Maria Olazabal channelled the spirit of his mentor Seve Ballesteros and Europe produced a sea of blue on the leaderboard, with Martin Kaymer sealing the most unlikely of victories when he rolled home a 10-foot putt to claim a 14.5-13.5 victory.

  Fury’s unlikely resurrection

  When Tyson Fury was on the end of a vicious left hook from Deontay Wilder in the 12th round of their WBC heavyweight clash in Las Vegas it looked like goodnight for the British fighter. Laying prone on the canvas he appeared out cold until midway through the referee’s count, when he came back to life, shot up and was somehow able to carry on. Fury thought he had earlier done enough to be awarded a points victory, but the judges controversially scored it a draw. However Fury dominated the two subsequent rematches and still retains the WBC belt.

  Miracle of Instanbul

  https://twitter.com/ChampionsLeague/status/113220969099215667
  Liverpool’s first European Cup final in 21 years and first in the Champions League era looked like it was going to be a damp squib as AC Milan raced into a 3-0 half-time lead thanks to goals from Paolo Maldini and Hernan Crespo (2). But Steven Gerrard inspired the monumental second-half comeback, with Liverpool scoring three times in seven minutes as Vladimir Smicer and Xavi Alonso also bagged. Goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek was the hero in the penalty shoot-out, saving from Andrea Pirlo and Andrei Shevchenko to claim a miraculous victory for Rafael Benitez’s side.

  Brady’s Brunch

  Even Tom Brady must have questioned whether his New England Patriots side had any chance of winning the 2017 Superbowl when they trailed the Atlanta Falcons 28-3 in the third quarter. But the NFL great cemented his position as the best quarterback of all time by inspiring his side to a miraculous 34-28 victory in overtime. It was the first Supervowl to be decided in an additional period and was also the largest comeback in the showpiece match.

  Brecel back from the brink

  Luca Brecel beat Ronnie O’Sullivan in this year’s World Snooker Championship quarter-final but the Belgian’s run looked like coming to an end in the semis against Si Jiahui when the Chinese debutant powered into a 14-5 lead in the race to 17. What happened next was the greatest comeback in Crucible history as Brecel won 11 successive frames, eventually claiming a remarkable 17-15 victory. He ensured that his fortnight in Sheffield ended in glory, beating Mark Selby in the final to win a first world title.