Willem Petrus Nel (born 30 April 1986) is a South African-born

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

former professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player.

Professional career

Nel joined Scottish Pro 12 side Edinburgh in July 2012. After three years at

Murrayfield Stadium Murrayfield Stadium is a rugby union stadium located in the Murrayfield area of Edinburgh, Scotland. The stadium is owned by the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) who has its headquarters based at the stadium, and is the national stadium of the Scotla ...

, Nel became eligible to represent Scotland in June 2015, and claimed he would decline an invitation to represent his native

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabhokobhoko) is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

in order to do so. He made his international bow against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

during the 2015 summer Tests, and was subsequently named in the final 31-man squad for the

2015 Rugby World Cup The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was ...

. He scored his first international try in the 39–16 World Cup match against the USA. Nel played in all of Scotland's matches in the 2016 Six Nations but missed the 2016 Autumn Internationals and the entire 2017 Six Nations due to a neck injury. This injury probably cost him a place in the Lions touring squad to New Zealand in 2017. In March 2017 it was announced that Nel had signed a three-year extension to his contract with Edinburgh. Nel played in four (starting three) of Scotland's group matches at the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup () was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening matc ...

. In 2023 Nel was selected in the 33 player squad for the

2023 Rugby World Cup The 2023 Rugby World Cup () was the tenth men's Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national rugby union teams. It took place in France from 8 September to 28 October 2023 in nine venues across the country. The opening game ...

in France, making his final appearance for Scotland in the pool stage loss against Ireland. In March 2024, Nel announced his intention to retire from rugby at the end of the season.

References

External links

* * 1986 births Living people People from Hantam Local Municipality Afrikaner people South African rugby union players Rugby union props Cheetahs (rugby union) players Free State Cheetahs players Western Province (rugby union) players Boland Cavaliers players Edinburgh Rugby players South African expatriate rugby union players in Scotland Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Scotland international rugby union players Scottish rugby union players Rugby union players from the Northern Cape 2015 Rugby World Cup players 2019 Rugby World Cup players 2023 Rugby World Cup players Scottish people of South African descent South African emigrants to the United Kingdom Naturalised rugby union players {{SouthAfrica-rugbyunion-bio-1980s-stub