‘NFL Not the Same As Rugby’ Says Former Dallas Cowboys Trialist As Welshman Crosses the Atlantic

• The National Football League has given a Welsh rugby star a chance to try out for the league
• A former Dallas Cowboys trialist and Springbok legend has stated the two are very different
• Louis Rees-Zammit has broken Wales and the rugby public's hearts by departing for the USA

Wales star rugby union winger, Louis Rees-Zammit is off on an American adventure which has left the British principality in tatters.

Rugby holds a special place in the Welsh psyche and the loss of one of their best players to emerge since Shane Williams is a bitter pill to swallow.

South Africa's favourite flyhalf-turned-rugby commentator had a word of advice for Rees-Zammit on the differences between rugby and gridiron football.

Nass Botha tried his hand at the NFL in the early eighties when he went on trial at the Dallas Cowboys. He was not selected for 'America's Team', instead reverting back to rugby.

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The legendary pundit has long been a source of jokes around his aversion to tackling, so would be well-placed to compare the two sports. In an interview with Sportsboom, the Northern Transvaal flyhalf said:

"In rugby, you get tackled when you have the ball, so you prepare yourself for a big hit. In American football, you get hit without the ball."

Botha claimed the winger has the attributes to make it in the NFL but the reception has been frostier in Britain, with The Guardian's Oliver Connolly making a case for why the Welshman is doomed.

Suggesting Rees-Zammit would be considered bland in the United States, he said:

"In the NFL, he's just another fast, 6ft 2in, 200lb player in a sport that churns out hundreds of them every year from elite college programs."

Rees-Zammit's American dream was declared on the eve of Warren Gatland's Six Nations squad announcement, denting Wales' hopes of beating more than Italy this campaign.

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Relive the Springboks' triumphant homecoming

Sports Brief also reported on SA's 2023 Rugby World Cup champions returning home in November.

OR Tambo International's arrivals terminal was transformed into a carnival of green and gold chaos.

South Africans of all creeds scrambled for the best vantage points to get their eyes on their heroes.