Wales and Gloucester winger Louis Rees-Zammit is to leave rugby union with immediate effect to pursue a career in the NFL.

Rees-Zammit is aiming to secure a place on an American football team for 2024.

“I am extremely excited to take up a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pursue a new challenge,” he said.

Rees-Zammit said the move did not necessarily mean he was retiring from rugby.

“Rather at this age and stage of my life I am excited to explore a unique challenge that has the potential to diversify my skillset,” he said.

Rees-Zammit broke into the Gloucester team as a teenager before making his debut for Wales in October 2020.

He has since become one of the team’s star players, scoring five tries at last autumn’s World Cup as Wales reached the quarter-finals.

But he will now travel to Florida this week to start on the IPP – a 10-week programme which gives athletes from around the world the chance to earn a spot on an NFL roster. The 2024 NFL season is due to begin in early September.

Rees-Zammit will not now be part of the Wales squad for the Six Nations, which was named soon after his announcement.

He also steps away from Gloucester, who have been his only professional club and he said were “extremely close to my heart”.

Rees-Zammit said he had “immense gratitude” towards Gloucester – particularly head coach George Skivington and chief executive Alex Brown.

“My best wishes go to Wales for the upcoming Six Nations and the year ahead, while I will continue to closely follow the continued progress of Gloucester from afar,” he added.

News ‘a bit of a shock’ for Gatland

Wales head coach Warren Gatland said he learned of the news only an hour before it was announced.

“It’s a little bit of a shock,” said Gatland. “He rang me to let me know and give me that information, say thanks very much for his time at the World Cup and how he enjoyed it.

“I wished him all the best. I honestly hope it all works out for him.”

Rees-Zammit has made eight appearances for Gloucester this season, scoring four tries, including a stunning effort in their European Challenge Cup win at Edinburgh last weekend.

He had been linked with a move to a French Top 14 club for next season.

“We understand the size of the opportunity before Zam and his lifelong ambition to play in the NFL,” said Brown.

“Whilst we are naturally sad to see him leave, ultimately, we are not able to dissuade him from taking an opportunity of this magnitude with the NFL.”

‘Now is the perfect time’

Rees-Zammit has been considered one of Welsh rugby’s brightest young prospects since he burst onto the scene and scored his first international try against Georgia in November 2020, with his pace helping to make him one of the game’s most exciting wingers.

He has played in the past three Six Nations for Wales before appearing in his first World Cup in France in September.

In 2021, he was a member of the British and Irish Lions’ squad for their tour of South Africa and played in four matches.

He became Gloucester’s youngest player in Premiership history when he made his first appearance aged 18, going on to feature 77 times for the side.

“I’m only 22 now and I’ve done quite a bit in rugby,” Rees-Zammit said in an interview with Gloucester.

“The international player pathway is in January and it just so happens the Six Nations is in February, and I think now is the perfect time with my age and having to pick up a new sport.

“It’s nothing about rugby, it’s about my ambition to make my dream come true and play in the NFL.

“As a little boy my dad has always brought me up to be a big NFL fan and growing up he used to play American football, so it’s kind of to continue his legacy and hopefully go beyond and make him proud.”

Can Rees-Zammit succeed in NFL where others have failed?

Rees-Zammit is not the first player to move from the Premiership to the NFL – but so far nobody British has managed to switch sports and make an impact on the game.

Former England and Wasps winger Christian Wade joined the Buffalo Bills under the IPP programme in 2019.

He scored a a 65-yard touchdown on his debut for the Bills in pre-season but never made a regular season appearance.

He was third on the all-time Premiership try-scoring list with 82 tries when he was cut by the Bills in 2022.

Lock Christian Scotland-Williamson left Worcester in 2017 to go down a similar route – with the aim of being a tight end.

But after three years trying to make the Pittsburgh Steelers’ roster, he too returned having not played a regular season match.

He joined Harlequins in 2021 and featured in two Premiership Rugby Cup ties.

Team GB discus thrower Lawrence Okoye had a bit more time in the NFL – but no more regular season minutes.

Having been crowned European Under-23 champion in 2011 and reaching the final at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, he took part in the 2013 NFL Combine and entered that year’s draft.

Despite not being drafted he was signed by the San Francisco 49ers, where he spent two years.

He went on to have spells on the practice squads at the Arizona Cardinals, the New York Jets, the Dallas Cowboys, the Chicago Bears and the Miami Dolphins between 2015 and 2017.

He returned to athletics and won silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

‘Turbulence’ continues for Welsh rugby

Analysis – BBC rugby union correspondent Chris Jones

This news has come out of absolutely nowhere, with Wales boss Warren Gatland only hearing about it minutes before naming his Six Nations squad.

Having won 32 Wales caps by the age of 22, Rees-Zammit was one of the hottest properties in the game – and his shock departure from the sport is a major blow.

However, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and by switching at such a young age he has given himself both the option to return to rugby later on, as well as a better chance of cracking the NFL, which is such a daunting prospect.

After a rollercoaster 2023 for Welsh rugby, the turbulence shows no sign of letting up in 2024.