Nel in Sevens heaven

While most people were gearing up for the festive break last year, former Hoërskool Brandwag pupil Ruhan Nel (23) was making his mark in green and gold with the Springbok Sevens team.

Having played in his debut tournament with the Blitzbokke in the Gold Coast leg of the HSBC World Sevens Series in Australia in October, Nel gained further caps in the back to-back December triumphs for coach Neil Powell’s team in the Dubai Sevens squad as well as the Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens in Port Elizabeth.

Speaking to the City Times from Cape Town, where the Blitzbokke are preparing for the New Zealand Sevens at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington in early February, the Benoni flyer commented on what it was like to initially get called up to the squad.

“It is a moment that I will never forget.

“Sitting with Coach Neil prior to the Gold Coast leg and hearing my name on the team sheet, knowing that I had been working so hard to get to that first tournament, made me emotional.

“Realising that I am going to represent my country and play with players that I have been watching since schoolboy days made everything seem too good to be true.”

When asked what the vibe in the Blitzbokke camp was like ahead of the New Zealand leg, Nel said that the team was, as always, taking each tournament as it comes.

“The back-to-back wins have been something special, but unfortunately it is not guaranteeing us that World Series title just yet, so the vibe in camp is a positive one.

“The team knows though that with six tournaments left there is still a lot of hard work to be done.

The player, born in Port Elizabeth, moved to Benoni at the age of six years old and has been an avid sportsman since his early days at Laerskool Rynfield.

“Obviously the younger you are the more you could do or at least tried to do, so I was doing athletics, rugby, cricket, cross-country, you name it.

“Every now and then there was time for learning,” he joked.

“My first memory playing for Hoërskool Brandwag was when I played my first high school rugby game at the age of 14.

“We played on the B-field in those old, thick jerseys.

“We were small boys, playing in rugby boots for the first time,” Nel said.

He added that his favourite memory from his school rugby days is when he was playing first team rugby in 2009 and his younger brother Jacques was selected for the team as well.

“As children we always dreamt of playing together and it became a reality, without knowing that we would make our professional debuts together in 2012 for the Golden Lions.”

The Benonian thanked his coach Anton Geyser who helped him get to where he is today.

“He always displayed true character and led by example.

“He definitely showed me that nothing comes easy.”

Commenting on his goals for 2015 Nel said: “My sevens career is still very young.

“It has been about four months since I first started with the Springbok Sevens team, so for me to find my feet and really learn the ropes of the game at this point is important.”

Hoërskool Brandwag’s principal James Wright said that the school is extremely proud of Nel’s achievements while Geyser, who coached Nel since the age of 14, commented: “Ruhan has always stood out on the field.

“He played sevens for Brandwag for three years and for two years in our first team.

“He is our third Springbok and I believe that he has the potential to be there for a long time and maybe even win an Olympic medal.”