I caught up with Louis Rees-Zammit on the phone after he announced his move to the NFL. It’s something he always joked about doing but I didn’t expect him to actually do it. Good on him.

If there’s anyone who can take such a challenge in his stride, it’s Louis. He’s in his prime and this may be the only chance he gets to change sports.

Louis wants to be a global star and right now the commercial opportunities in rugby are limited. He is keen to chase the American dream — via the NFL’s International Player Pathway Programme for hopefuls.

That sunny lifestyle appeals to him and he’s not afraid to admit it.

His nickname in the Wales team was ‘Saint Tropez Away’ because he would be straight there on his weekends off!

So does it surprise me that he’d rather chase a contract with the than play a rainy Ospreys v derby? Absolutely not.

Rees-Zammit made the shock decision to quit rugby to pursue a career in the NFL this week

It's no surprise he’d rather chase a contract in NFL than play in a rainy Ospreys v Cardiff derby

It’s a gamble, of course, but if it doesn’t work out he can come back to rugby in three years with a bit of money in the bank.

It’s not the kind of move that would have appealed to me because rugby is my life, but Louis wants more.

Commercially, it’s a blow for Wales and Gloucester because he has a big following. My six-year-old son, James, was devastated because Louis is his favourite player. He has a big pull with the social media generation.

There’s no doubt it weakens Wales before the Six Nations because he’s a world-class operator and a regular starter. He would have become a senior figure over the next four-year cycle, with a lot of new faces coming in after the old boys like myself walked away.

There was a chance of Wales bringing in Immanuel Feyi-Waboso to help plug the gap on the wing but he has decided to stay with Exeter and focus on his medical studies.

You can’t blame him for that but it will be disappointing to lose him to England as he has been tearing it up in the Premiership, and Wales have a much smaller pool of players. Louis has left behind some big shoes to fill.