Ruhan Nel eager to shake off the rust at Loftus
· Citizen
Returning Stormers captain Ruhan Nel said he is somewhat nervous but very excited and honoured to captain the side against the Bulls on Saturday after a three-month injury lay-off.
He leads the side after Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu captained for a victory and two defeats before the captain’s armband was taken from him and given to JD Schickerling, with the Stormers also losing that match.
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The Stormers and Bulls clash at Loftus Versfeld at 2pm in their return United Rugby Championship local derby after the Stormers edged the Bulls 13-8 in Cape Town two months ago.
But while the Stormers completed their 10-match winning streak in that game, and the Bulls neared the end of a seven-game losing run, their fortunes have now reversed.
‘Excited to be back’
The Stormers are on a three-match losing streak, dropping from pole position to fifth on the URC overall log, while the Bulls have won four games in a row to move back into the top eight.
Nel explained on the eve of the north-south derby that following his last match, against La Rochelle in December, his initial calf injury suffered a setback during a captain’s run.
It took a few weeks to heal, but then he suffered a “frustrating” paratenon injury in his right Achilles, which extended the lay-off.
“[It’s a] weird space because in order for it to recover, you have to de-load, but in order to stay fit you have to load,” Nel said.
“That set me back another four to six weeks. I am just happy that it reacted well and I am back with the team.
“I’m really excited to be back and wearing the captaincy armband again. Hopefully, I can do a really good job for the team tomorrow.”
Nel and the Stormers leadership
Nel said while the leadership was not a one-man show, the Stormers had recently worked on giving the captain a more authoritative voice.
“Being the captain of the Stormers will always be a massive honour and privilege. I am lucky enough that we have a really strong leadership group around us.”
He referred to Deon Fourie, Neethling Fouché, Schickerling and Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
“There’s more than enough leadership on the field. The challenge there is maybe everyone wants to voice their opinion.
“I’m not saying that’s our thing, but when there are bunch of strong voices getting one voice or a line of communication is a good thing, and we’ve worked on that well for the last couple of weeks.”