it concerns welsh wonderkid louis rees—zammit.es and gloucester winger has announced he is to leave rugby union, with immediate effect, to go try his hand at american football on the nfl international player pathway. the 22—year—old — who has been capped by wales 32 times — described the decision as "painstaking". he is aiming to earn a spot on an american football team for 202a. in the last hour, wales have announced their squad for the six nations — rees—zammit is not in it. this is the statement he has released via his now former club, gloucester. rees—zammit says, "i have had the incredible honour of playing rugby for my country which, as a proud welshman, i've never taken for granted. however, i believe that this is the right time for me to realise another professional goal of playing american football in the us. those opportunities don't come around very often." another big story today in rugby union — the british and irish lions will have a first women's tour, a trip to new zealand in 2027. the tour will be held in septembe

a shock move from rugby union to american football — for wales�* young star louis rees zammit.en—time paralympic gold medallist hannah cockroft tells us disabled people in britain are being "almost criminalised" in the way they are treated. i still can't catch a train if there is no one there with the ramp. i still can't catch a bus with my boyfriend. i still can't enter a shop if i've got to step into it. welcome along to the programme. we'll start in melbourne, as it was a busy and mostly positive day for the british players at the australian open. dan evans, was the only one not to progress in the singles, he beaten in four sets by lorenzo sonego on his return from injury, but there were good showings from cameron norrie, who had a straight sets win over juan pablo varrillas, and jack draper, who battled the heat and sickness to beat marcos giron over five sets. in the women's draw british number one — katie boulter was tested, but came through in straight sets against yue yuan, while a lot of the focus was undoubtedly on 2021 us open champion emma raducanu, back in grand sl

welsh star louis rees—zammit has left his club gloucester with immediate effect and quit rugby unionsue a career in the nfl. the 22—year—old has been capped 32 times by his country, has joined the nfl international player pathway. he will now travel to florida this week to start on the ipp ten week programme, which gives athletes from around the world the chance to earn a spot on an nfl roster. and staying with rugby union. and the british and irish lions have announced a first women's tour, which will be a trip to new zealand in 2027 that all be held in september and will include three test matches against the six time world champions black ferns. 0ur rugby correspondent sarah 0rchard reports. well, as you can see, so much interest around today's announcement that this tour will be going ahead in 2027. it comes off the back of a feasibility study that the lions have been running to see if there was enough commercial interest in buying from unions. that has all come back positive, although we won't see the actual publish report. the questions today actually come more around whether n

okay, louis. rees—zammit., i should say . and also lions, i should say. and also gloucester as well . um, he's gloucester as well. um, he's making a move now. we've had rugby players in the past where they've changed codes, where they've changed codes, where they've gone from league, union and union to league. uh, in this situation, this is an nfl pathway that he's going to eamonn. and this is where he's decided he doesn't want to play rugby anymore, that wants to rugby anymore, that he wants to go america and play in the go to america and play in the nfl. so we actually have someone who is an expert in the whole thing that we may because i would have thought too would have thought not too many people trod road successfully. >> well, you know, we've seen it before. >> well, you know, we've seen it befwe've christian >> we've seen christian wade try. out try. it hasn't worked out because a there's an because there's a there's an amazing that in the amazing stat that i saw in the telegraph today and it says, and

meanwhile, welsh star louis rees—zammit has left gloucester with immediate effect to pursue a careerped 32 times by his country has joined the nfl international player pathway with the aim of securing a place on an american football team for 202a. he is 22 and has always dream and of potentially playing in the nfl, he has always been a huge fan and he feels if he doesn't take the opportunity now, then it might not happen for him in the future. i wish him all the best. i will always be a great believer in players taking the opportunities that get presented. and that's all the sport for now. this the israeli military says its troops have killed dozens of hamas militants around the town of beit lahia in northern gaza. the idf said it had uncovered about 100 rocket launchers. yesterday, the un chief, antonio guterres, again called for the fighting to stop, saying an immediate ceasefire was necessary to secure the release of hostages in gaza and increase aid entering the enclave. israel has dropped leaflets near rafah, in the south of gaza, warning residents there — to move to safer areas

welsh star louis rees—zammit left his club gloucester with immediate effect and quit rugby union altogetherer in the nfl. the 22—year—old, who has been capped 32 times by his country has joined the nfl international player pathway. he will now travel to florida this week to start on the ipp io—week programme which gives athletes from around the world the chance to earn a spot on an nfl roster. seven—time paralympic gold medallist hannah cockroft says disabled people in britain are being "almost criminalised" in the way they are treated. the uk government downgraded the role of minister of state for disabled people to junior level last month. a decision the seven time gold medallist has condemned. an open letter signed by 57 sporting bodies last week called for the role to be reinstated. the government says it will build on it's track record of supporting disabled people, and ensure there is a strong safety net for the most vulnerable in society. and that's all the sport for now thank you very much. returning to that story that has been dominating through the course of today, the head of fij

welsh star louis rees—zammit has left his club gloucester with immediate effect and quit rugby unionprogramme, which gives athletes from around the world the chance to earn a spot on an nfl roster. seven—time paralympic gold medallist hannah cockroft says disabled people in britain are being "almost criminalised" in the way they are treated. the uk government downgraded the role of minister of state for disabled people to junior level last month. a decision the seven time gold medallist has condemned. an open letter signed by 57 sporting bodies last week called for the role to be reinstated. the government says it will build on it's track record of supporting disabled people, and ensure there is a strong safety net for the most vulnerable in society. and that's all the sport for now. from the marc edwards and the team at the bbc sport centre, see you soon, goodbye. hello there. it's been quite a snowy day across the northern half of the uk. further south, it's been cold, but largely dry with some sunshine, little bit of variable cloud here and there. wednesday promises to be another

now to rugby union and the sensational news that the welsh superstar louis rees—zammit is giving up theesterday. he's been a standout player for wales on the wing since breaking into the team as a teenager. but the 22—year—old will leave his club side gloucester, wales, and the sport entirely to join the nfl international player pathway in an attempt to play american football at the highest level. lewis said he had an approach on sunday to go and do a training camp with the nfl, it's something he has always dreamt of having an opportunity to do. he slept on it on monday, went to gloucester, didn't really think too much whether it would go ahead. was told by his lawyers to not say anything to anyone. and pretty much the paperwork has been agreed and signed and gloucester have agreed to release him in the last couple of hours. there'll be a sizzling atmosphere inside the rod laver arena later this morning as the ten time australian open champion novak djokovic takes on home favourite alexei popyrin in the second round. plenty of action already though, including the us open champion coco g