Bristol boss Pat Lamb believes that after Louis Reese Zammitt attempts to give Gallagher Prem a try, he says, “it gets better and better.”
The Welsh Wing was featured for his first Prem appearance since December 2023 after leaving Rugby Union to pursue a career in the NFL.
The training squad stint followed the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars, but he didn’t make a regular season appearance and was snapped to Bristol as the Star’s summer arrival.
And he approved a strong all-round performance in Bristol’s fifth final try as he defeated Leicester 42-24 in front of a crowd of 20,000 at Ashtongate.
“It was his first 80 minutes since he returned,” said Lamb, director of Bristol Rugby.
“He’s getting better and better every day. What I liked about his game today was that he was physically good as well. He didn’t make it easy.
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“When he first came, I didn’t know how fast his transition would be in terms of new teams and our playing days, and whether his transition would return to rugby fitness. I’m really proud of him.
“His details and desires are getting better and I want to keep pushing myself. He’s going to get better and better now.”
But while not all the good news for Bristol, AJ MacGinty, scrum half Harry Randall and Wing Gabriel Ibitoe were all injured and forced into injury.
Lamb added: “It looks like AJ did his Achilles, which looks the most serious. Harry Randall and Gabriel Ibitoe are hamstring injuries.
“One thing about AJ is that he is so professional and he’s come back earlier in the past. You’ll never know.”
Rees-Zammit, Ibitoye, Flanker Fitz Harding, Hooker Gabriel Oghre and Josh Carrington for replacement scored a try for Bristol with successful bonus points.
Wing Adam Radwan landed twice in Leicester in Jeff Perling’s first prem game as head coach. Halfbacks Jack Van Plutofriette and Orlando Bailey also scored, and Bailey charged two conversions, but the Tigers had to be satisfied with the bonus points they lost.