Nel to hang up his boots at the end of the season
IT’S become something of an annual tradition for a world-weary WP Nel to insist: ‘I’m getting too old for this’ ... before signing up for another season anyway.
This time, however, it seems the years have finally caught up with the Edinburgh and Scotland veteran.
Nel was still apparently hedging his bets last week when he spoke ahead of his 200th appearance for the club, hinting again about retirement but unable or unwilling to fully articulate that the end of his playing days was finally nigh.
Instead it was left to Sean Everitt, his fellow South African, to confirm yesterday that this will indeed be the 37-year-old’s final season for club and adopted country.
Asked about a potential summer move for Northampton Saints tighthead Paul Hill, Edinburgh head coach Everitt wouldn’t bite on the name but conceded that succession planning was very much under way. For the first time in a dozen years, the capital side will line up for a new campaign without Nel’s name on the squad list.
‘He’s had a good innings and a long innings,’ said Everitt of a player who arrived from the Cheetahs in his homeland to sign for Edinburgh in 2012. The prop was renowned as a sprightly runner in open field back then, rather than the wily old scrummager he became in later years. A thunderous 40-yard dash to score against Leinster helped make him a fans’ favourite — and it wasn’t long before his consistency in the pack brought him to the attention of the Scotland selectors, too.
In an era when World Rugby’s residential qualification period was just three years rather than the current five, Nel became eligible to play for Scotland in the summer of 2015. He made his debut against Italy — the first of 61 caps — before featuring in the World Cup in England a few months later.
The gruff Afrikaans accent never really changed but his love for Scotland clearly grew with every cap and every new Edinburgh contract.
When he ran out last weekend at the Stormers’ stadium — in the city where his career began with Western Province in 2008 — his four Scots-born children were on the pitch alongside him.
A quiet and humble man, Nel has never been one for loud gestures or any great outpouring of emotion. However, he did admit just before last year’s World Cup — his third in dark blue — that he owed his adopted nation a debt of gratitude.
‘It’s really an honour and I’m really proud to represent Scotland’ he said. ‘I thank them for giving me the opportunity to represent this country that I couldn’t do in my own country.
‘I can’t find the words to properly explain it but I hope that, through my dedication and everything I give for the jersey, it shows how much I appreciate being part of the Scotland squad. I see this as the country where I’ve grown up. It’s part of me.
‘There are no mixed emotions for me (when Scotland play the Springboks). Even when I look back to 2015 when we played them in the pool stage there’s never really been a connection to the South African team for me. So I’ve never been emotional about it. I’m just proud to be representing Scotland.
‘As a family we will probably stay here after rugby. Scotland is part of us. All my kids were born here so they’re all Scottish — hopefully we’ll see them in the Scotland jersey one day if it’s possible!’
That Nel was still pulling on a Scotland shirt in his 38th year spoke both to his desire and the nation’s requirements. Several times over the past few years, the Loeriesfontein-born player would sidle up to head coach Gregor Townsend to suggest it might be time for him to head into international retirement.
A recurring neck injury — an occupational hazard for every front-rower — has continued to trouble him but Townsend would always persuade him to give it one more campaign. Keen not to let anyone down, Nel would duly agree.
The emergence of Zander Fagerson as Scotland’s firstchoice tighthead has eased that burden, with Elliot Millar-Mills and Javan Sebastian providing cover during a Six Nations campaign that Nel missed due to that troublesome injury. Now the time has come for one of Scottish rugby’s greatest-ever imports to turn his hand to something else.
Everitt said: ‘We’d have loved for him to stay on for another year but he’s been toying with this decision for some time. He enjoys the club, he enjoys Edinburgh as a city but, at the end of the day, at some stage someone will wake up in the morning and say: “I think I’ve had enough”.
‘I’m so proud of that guy. He’s been a great servant to the game and to Edinburgh.’