The Utah Warriors signed Dylan Nel for the 2024 Major League Rugby season. The soon-to-be 31-year-old #8/Flanker later this month, is 6’1″ and 245 lbs.
Dylan is from Durban, South Africa. He attended Clifton School beginning in 2010 in Durban and was the first XV captain of the rugby team.
Dylan moved to New Zealand in 2015 to play with Sumner Rugby Club and also for West Coast, but was not eligible for the ITM Cup side, as he didn’t have a work visa at that time. In 2016 and 2017 he played for Canterbury, winning the championship in 2016. In 2017 he was a member of the Crusaders pre-season squad and provided injury cover that season. After the club season, he was honored as Player of the Year in the Christchurch competition and the Top Try Scorer.
In 2018 he signed a two-year contract with Otago, playing in 20 matches, starting 18 and scoring 3 tries through the 2019 season. He also played in the Brisbane 10s in 2018 with the Crusaders. In 2019 he played 4 matches for the Super Rugby Chiefs and was honored with the Mana Kotiate Award, which is given to the player who emulates the most outstanding work ethic and professionalism on and off the field.
Dylan signed another two-year contract in 2020 with Otago and played in 16 matches, starting 15, and scored 2 tries over the 2 seasons in the NPC competition.
From 2021 through 2023 he played in Japan for the Mitsubishi Dynaboars. The first year the team was in Division 2 and the next they gained promotion to the Japan Rugby League One Division 1.
He then joined the Southland Stags in the Bunnings NPC competition in 2023.
Other Articles
DJCoil Rugby articles by Doug Coil are also available on Facebook—other Social Media sites to follow or subscribe to including Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube for interviews.
