Wales wing Louis Rees-Zammit has revealed his top speed and challenged France star Louie Bielle-Biarrey to a race. The Bristol Bears flyer says he is faster than ever after his spell in the NFL.
New top speed recorded
Rees-Zammit previously clocked a highest speed of 24.2mph against Fiji in the autumn of 2021. However, he produced an even faster speed when the two sides met this July in the Nations Championship.
"I hit 11.2m/s when I played Fiji," he told Planet Rugby. That works out at around 25.05mph.
Comparing with rivals
It moves him ahead of some of rugby's other speedsters. Christian Wade once clocked 11.1m/s according to the Prem site, while Bielle-Biarrey hit a top speed of 10.69m/s during a race against French sprinting legend Christophe Lemaitre in early 2026.
Rees-Zammit added that the Frenchman was the fastest player he had played against, saying he would like to race him one day. "Probably Louie Bialle-Biarrey," said the 25-year-old. "He's very quick. It would definitely be close. It'd be interesting. I'd like to see it."
Season outlook
Previously, Rees-Zammit had claimed that only former USA 7s star Carlin Isles - who was previously a sprinter - was the only rugby player faster than him. After a frustrating year, with Bristol missing out on the Prem play-offs and Rees-Zammit going eight Tests without scoring for Wales, he is hoping for a better second season following his return to rugby.
"I think we've been building nicely, over the autumn into the Six Nations, into the summer," he said about the prospects of Steve Tandy's side this year. "Obviously, there's been additions to the coaching staff and stuff, so it's probably going to be a little bit harder to adjust and not plain sailing. But all the boys are so excited just to see what we can achieve a year out from the World Cup; I think it's so exciting."
"We were really building throughout the Six Nations. I thought obviously the first two games weren't ideal, but then the Ireland, Scotland, Italy game, we built up and obviously got the win against Italy, so the boys are excited. We're really happy with where we are at the minute. It's just about continuing to put good performances on and end up getting wins because ultimately that's what you need in rugby."
