Background
Nel was born in Portuguese Elizabeth, but grew up in Benoni, where he earned an inclusion to the Falcons squad that competed at the Under-18 Craven Week tournament held in Kimberley in 2011.
Nel was born in Portuguese Elizabeth, but grew up in Benoni, where he earned an inclusion to the Falcons squad that competed at the Under-18 Craven Week tournament held in Kimberley in 2011.
His regular position is centre or winger. He started three matches and scored a try against the SWD Eagles. He made the very short move to Johannesburg to the Golden Lions Academy after high school.
He appeared in all thirteen of the Golden Lions U19s" matches during the 2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship, starting twelve of those.
He scored a try in both of their matches against Free State U19 and two tries against SWD U21 in George to help his side secure a semi-final place. However, they lost in the semi-finals, with Western Province U21 winning the match 24–14 in Stellenbosch.
Nel made his first class debut on 15 March 2013. He was included in the Golden Lions squad for the 2013 Vodacom Cup competition and started their Round Two match against former side the Falcons in a 22–27 defeat.
He started two more matches in losses to the Blue Bulls and Griffons respectively, but didn"t feature in the play-offs.
Despite still being in the Under-20 age-group, Nel started all thirteen of the Golden Lions" matches in the 2013 Under-21 Provincial Championship. He scored six tries – including a brace in their match against eventual champions Western Province U21 – as the Golden Lions finished in fourth spot. However, Nel lost in a semi-final to Western Province for the second consecutive year, who beat Golden Lions U21 44–41 after extra time.
He started the 2014 season by representing UJ in the 2014 Varsity Cup competition.
He started in all seven their matches and scored a try in their 32–15 victory over rival Johannesburg-based university side Wits. lieutenant proved to be a disappointing campaign for UJ, however, as they finished second-bottom in the competition to qualify for a relegation play-off match against UKZN Impi.
Nel also started this match, as UJ ran out 42–8 victors to retain their Varsity Cup status for 2015. Nel made five starts and two substitute appearances for the Golden Lions during the 2015 Vodacom Cup.
He scored two tries in their match against the Pumas in a 24–16 victory in Nelspruit as they went through the regular season unbeaten to finish top of the Northern Section log.
He scored his third try of the season in their 29–21 victory over the SWD Eagles, but was not a member of the side that lost their semi-final 20–43 to the Pumas a week later.