Jacques Nel

Jacques Jehan Nel (born 17 March 1993 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa) is a South African rugby union player forAurillac in the Rugby Pro D2. His regular position is centre or winger.

Nel was born in Port Elizabeth, but grew up in Benoni, where he earned an inclusion to theFalcons squad that competed at the Under-18 Craven Week tournament held in Kimberley in 2011. He started three matches and scored a try against theSWD Eagles.

He made the very short move to Johannesburg to theGolden Lions Academy after high school. He appeared in all thirteen of theGolden Lions U19s' matches during the 2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship, starting twelve of those. He scored a try in both of their matches againstFree State U19 and two tries againstSWD U21 in George to help his side secure a semi-final place. However, they lost in the semi-finals, withWestern Province U21 winning the match 24–14 in Stellenbosch.

Nel made his first class debut on 15 March 2013; he was included in theGolden Lions squad for the 2013 Vodacom Cup competition and started their Round Two match against former side theFalcons in a 22–27 defeat. He started two more matches in losses to theBlue Bulls andGriffons respectively, but didn't feature in the play-offs. The Golden Lions won the competition, beating thePumas 42–28 in the final in Nelspruit.

Despite still being in the Under-20 age-group, Nel started all thirteen of theGolden Lions' matches in the 2013 Under-21 Provincial Championship. He scored six tries – including a brace in their match against eventual championsWestern 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 representingUJ 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 sideWits. It 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 againstUKZN Impi. Nel also started this match, as UJ ran out 42–8 victors to retain their Varsity Cup status for 2015. He started ten matches forGolden Lions U21 in the 2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship and contributed four tries – two of those in their match againstFree State U21 in Bloemfontein – as they once again reached the semi-finals only to be eliminated at that stage, this time by theBlue Bulls U21s, who won 23–19 in Pretoria.

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 thePumas 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 theSWD Eagles, but was not a member of the side that lost their semi-final 20–43 to thePumas a week later.

Nel was included in the Golden Lions' Currie Cup side for the 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division and was named on the bench for their Round Five match against theEastern Province Kings in Johannesburg.

Aurillac

Nel moved to French Pro D2 sideAurillac prior to the 2018–19 season.

Statistics

As of 3 September 2015.

He is the younger brother of South Africa Sevens international Ruhan Nel.