Pat Lam confirms Louis Rees-Zammit's permanent return to the wing at Bristol Bears

Louis Rees-Zammit will play as a winger for Bristol Bears on a permanent basis, head coach Pat Lam has confirmed, after the Wales international approached him to request the switch back from full-back. The 25-year-old, who has scored seven tries for the Bears this season, had been operating at full-back for club and country across 12 appearances before Christmas.

Lam says the move was driven entirely by Rees-Zammit himself, who acknowledged that his best rugby — including his British and Irish Lions selection — had come from the wing. “Zam was really keen to play full-back, but the biggest thing is he loves to score tries and is a world-class try scorer,” Lam said. “What he quickly realised, he was a British Lion as a wing. He wants to be, again.”

The Bristol head coach described a candid conversation in which Rees-Zammit asked to return to his natural position. “We had a discussion, and he said that he’d like to go back on the wing,” Lam explained. “I love the fact that he was honest enough to come and say, ‘Look, Pat, I really want to try playing at full-back’. So basically, he wants to be a world-class winger who can cover full-back.”

Lam believes the Bears’ attacking system makes the wing a more productive position for a player of Rees-Zammit’s profile. “Every time he’s played on the wing for us, he’s scored tries because our game creates space for the wingers,” he said. “You can be wasted on the wing if your game plan doesn’t create space for the wingers.”

Rees-Zammit touched down in Bristol’s 94-33 defeat to Northampton Saints two weeks ago — his first appearance on the wing since scoring in the Champions Cup win over the Scarlets on December 6.

In other injury news from the Bears’ camp, fly-half AJ MacGinty is back in full training and is being considered for selection against Bath. MacGinty has not featured since damaging his Achilles tendon in the opening Gallagher Premiership match of the season against Leicester Tigers in September. His return would allow Tom Jordan, who began the season at full-back before stepping into the playmaker role, to shift back to his original position.