{"id":292455,"date":"2023-09-14T00:34:57","date_gmt":"2023-09-14T00:34:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=292455"},"modified":"2023-09-14T00:34:57","modified_gmt":"2023-09-14T00:34:57","slug":"louis-rees-zammit-says-wales-have-a-lot-to-improve-when-they-face-portugal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/louis-rees-zammit-says-wales-have-a-lot-to-improve-when-they-face-portugal\/","title":{"rendered":"Louis Rees-Zammit says Wales have \u2018a lot to improve\u2019 when they face Portugal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/static-assets\/images\/newsletter\/sport\/sport-135x135.png\" width=\"134\" height=\"134\" layout=\"responsive\"><\/p>\n<h3>Sign up to our free sport newsletter for all the latest news on everything from cycling to boxing<\/h3>\n<h3>Sign up to our free sport email for all the latest news<\/h3>\n<h2>Thanks for signing up to the<br \/> Sport email<\/h2>\n<p>Louis Rees-Zammit has underlined Wales\u2019 \u201cgame by game mentality\u201d as they target a second successive Rugby World Cup victory that would strengthen their quarter-final ambitions.<\/p>\n<p>Wales, fresh from a thrilling bonus-point victory over Fiji, tackle Pool C minnows Portugal on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>A showdown with Australia follows eight days later in Lyon, then Georgia in Nantes as Wales chase a fourth last-eight appearance on the bounce.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe got the win (against Fiji), which was the main thing, but there is a lot to improve,\u201d Rees-Zammit said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve got Portugal next and we know they have got great backs, so it\u2019s going to be a tough game.<\/p>\n<h3>Recommended<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2022\/11\/30\/15\/GettyImages-1388382959%20copy.jpg\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2022\/12\/01\/03\/GettyImages-1245251240.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have got a game by game mentality, and that is our focus. You can\u2019t slip up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe respect Portugal. We know they have got some great backs, so we are going to have to train hard this week and get the job done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wales head coach Warren Gatland has made 13 changes to the starting line-up, with only wing Rees-Zammit and number eight Taulupe Faletau remaining from last weekend.<\/p>\n<p>Co-captain Dewi Lake leads Wales after recovering from a knee injury, while scrum-half Tomos Williams wins his 50th cap and there are first World Cup starts for the likes of centre Mason Grady, plus Exeter locks Dafydd Jenkins and lock Christ Tshiunza.<\/p>\n<p>Lake suffered a knee problem during Wales\u2019 World Cup warm-up game against England, but he now returns to pack down alongside front-row colleagues Nicky Smith and Dillon Lewis, and fly-half Gareth Anscombe is also back after injury.<\/p>\n<p>Grady, meanwhile, is partnered in midfield by Johnny Williams, Leigh Halfpenny wins his 101st cap at full-back and another experienced campaigner \u2013 flanker Dan Lydiate \u2013 also features.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/static-assets\/images\/mobile-stores\/Amazon_Prime.svg\" width=\"129\" height=\"56\"><\/p>\n<p>Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video<\/p>\n<p>Sign up now for a 30-day free trial<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/static-assets\/images\/mobile-stores\/Amazon_Prime.svg\" width=\"129\" height=\"56\"><\/p>\n<p>Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video<\/p>\n<p>Sign up now for a 30-day free trial<\/p>\n<p>At the age of 34 years, eight months and 26 days, Halfpenny will become the oldest back to play a World Cup game for Wales, surpassing Shane Williams, who was a month younger against Australia in Auckland 12 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Prop Henry Thomas is the only player in Wales\u2019 33-strong World Cup squad who will not have started or been named on the bench across the first two games.<\/p>\n<p>Wales\u2019 bonus-point success against Fiji has set them up for a repeat performance against Portugal, who are the Pool C minnows.<\/p>\n<p>They are at their first World Cup since 2007, although their pre-tournament form has been reasonable, including a 46-20 victory over the United States.<\/p>\n<p>Gatland said: \u201cWe\u2019ve made a few changes this week given the six-day turnaround.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is an opportunity now for this matchday 23. I have said before, but there is some great competition within the squad, which is what we want to see.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is a chance now for this group to go out on Saturday and to put down their own marker in the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve done a thorough debrief of last week\u2019s game and know the areas we need to improve.<\/p>\n<h3>Recommended<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2023\/09\/13\/16\/c1667546a52601de6a09132f6120b610Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNjk0NzAyODAy-2.69849509.jpg\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2023\/09\/13\/16\/430319ba0f38d23096e6674e50662594Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNjk0NzAzNDM2-2.67005672.jpg\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2023\/09\/13\/16\/7243641088dcd39e7903ee151a98f84bY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNjk0NzAwOTE1-2.73710789.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have a clear plan of how we want to play on Saturday, and it is about going out there and executing that as we have prepared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPortugal are a skilful side and will be raring to go this weekend in their first match of the tournament. We are excited to get back out there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/sport\/rugby\/rugby-union\/louis-reeszammit-wales-portugal-leigh-halfpenny-shane-williams-b2410837.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sign up to our free sport newsletter for all the latest news on everything from cycling to boxing Sign up <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292454,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Louis Rees-Zammit says Wales have \u2018a lot to improve\u2019 when they face Portugal - Sportstons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/louis-rees-zammit-says-wales-have-a-lot-to-improve-when-they-face-portugal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Louis Rees-Zammit says Wales have \u2018a lot to improve\u2019 when they face Portugal - Sportstons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sign up to our free sport newsletter for all the latest news on everything from cycling to boxing Sign up &hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/louis-rees-zammit-says-wales-have-a-lot-to-improve-when-they-face-portugal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sportstons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-14T00:34:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dennis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Louis-Rees-Zammit-says-Wales-have-\u2018a-lot-to-improve-when-they-face-Portugal.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dennis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/louis-rees-zammit-says-wales-have-a-lot-to-improve-when-they-face-portugal\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/louis-rees-zammit-says-wales-have-a-lot-to-improve-when-they-face-portugal\/\",\"name\":\"Louis Rees-Zammit says Wales have \u2018a lot to improve\u2019 when they face Portugal - Sportstons\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-14T00:34:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-14T00:34:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/louis-rees-zammit-says-wales-have-a-lot-to-improve-when-they-face-portugal\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/louis-rees-zammit-says-wales-have-a-lot-to-improve-when-they-face-portugal\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/louis-rees-zammit-says-wales-have-a-lot-to-improve-when-they-face-portugal\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rugby Union\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/category\/rugby-union\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Louis Rees-Zammit says Wales have \u2018a lot to improve\u2019 when they face Portugal\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/\",\"name\":\"Sportstons\",\"description\":\"sportstons.com\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609\",\"name\":\"Dennis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dennis\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Louis Rees-Zammit says Wales have \u2018a lot to improve\u2019 when they face Portugal - Sportstons","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/louis-rees-zammit-says-wales-have-a-lot-to-improve-when-they-face-portugal\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Louis Rees-Zammit says Wales have \u2018a lot to improve\u2019 when they face Portugal - Sportstons","og_description":"Sign up to our free sport newsletter for all the latest news on everything from cycling to boxing Sign up &hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/louis-rees-zammit-says-wales-have-a-lot-to-improve-when-they-face-portugal\/","og_site_name":"Sportstons","article_published_time":"2023-09-14T00:34:57+00:00","author":"Dennis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Louis-Rees-Zammit-says-Wales-have-\u2018a-lot-to-improve-when-they-face-Portugal.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dennis","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/louis-rees-zammit-says-wales-have-a-lot-to-improve-when-they-face-portugal\/","url":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/louis-rees-zammit-says-wales-have-a-lot-to-improve-when-they-face-portugal\/","name":"Louis Rees-Zammit says Wales have \u2018a lot to improve\u2019 when they face Portugal - Sportstons","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-09-14T00:34:57+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-14T00:34:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/louis-rees-zammit-says-wales-have-a-lot-to-improve-when-they-face-portugal\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/louis-rees-zammit-says-wales-have-a-lot-to-improve-when-they-face-portugal\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/louis-rees-zammit-says-wales-have-a-lot-to-improve-when-they-face-portugal\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rugby Union","item":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/category\/rugby-union\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Louis Rees-Zammit says Wales have \u2018a lot to improve\u2019 when they face Portugal"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/","name":"Sportstons","description":"sportstons.com","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74db1979fe71b5ea01513ec1ce5bc609","name":"Dennis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7cef2e0d8d634cb49d54f7c48b549a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dennis"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292455"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=292455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=292455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=292455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}