Wales speed-machine Louis Rees-Zammit believes his pace has increased as he limbers up for a second Six Nations campaign.
The Gloucester wing was a leading figure during last year’s title-winning triumph, scoring four tries and showcasing his remarkable finishing skills.
It proved a debut Six Nations to savour, and he has accelerated into this season’s tournament on the back of a spectacular 80-metre solo score for his club in their Gallagher Premiership victory over Newcastle last weekend.
“We’ve got a GPS device on the back of our shirts, and that measures everything in terms of speed,” Rees-Zammit said, ahead of Saturday’s opener against Ireland in Dublin.
“One day I will be quicker than the other, so I know I am getting faster. I have a got a speed performance coach at Gloucester (Daniel Tobin) and we work on it every day.
“We have been doing loads of drills that will help me, and it has been showing I have actually been getting quicker, which is always good.
“I’ve got to try to do the basics well, and then my speed and all that stuff will take care of itself.”
Rees-Zammit has scored six tries in his 12 Wales Tests, and 19 in 32 games for Gloucester, while he also claimed three touchdowns on last summer’s British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa.
For a player who only turned 21 earlier this week – birthday celebrations included Wales team-mates providing his favourite strawberry sponge cake – he is already established as a box-office talent.
“It (last year’s achievements) will be hard to beat, but at the same time I don’t want the second-year syndrome,” he added.
“I’ve been working hard on my game, and I am really looking forward to the Six Nations.
“I am the same old person, really, I’ve just got a bit more experience under my belt from the last Six Nations and then the Lions tour.
“People will (know more about him), but I have to try and do more so they can’t know everything about me, which is what I kind of work on in training.
“They might know a lot about me and the way I play, but hopefully I can do things they won’t know.”
