Niell Jordaan

Daniel Niell Jordaan (born (1992-01-13)13 January 1992 in Newcastle, South Africa) is a South African rugby union player, currently playing Super Rugby with the Cheetahs and Currie Cup rugby with the Free State Cheetahs.^[1] His regular position is number eight.

Career

Schools rugby

Jordaan earned a provincial call-up as early as primary school level, representing the Pumas at the 2005 Under-13 Craven Week competition. He was once again called up in 2008, playing for them at the Under-16 Grant Khomo week, which earned him an inclusion in the South African Under-16 Elite Squad.

He moved to Bloemfontein in 2009 to finish his schooling at Grey College. He represented the Free State at the premier high school rugby union competition, the Under-18 Craven Week, on two occasions; at the 2009 event in East London and at the 2010 event in Welkom, where Free State beat Western Province 42–21 in the main match of the competition.^[2] Jordaan was subsequently included in a South African Under-18 High Performance Squad, which played matches against France, England and Namibia.

Free State Cheetahs / UFS Shimlas / Griffons

After finishing high school, Jordaan joined the Free State Academy and appeared for the Free State U19 side in the 2011 Under-19 Provincial Championship, where he made seven appearances as his side reached the semi-finals of the competition. He progressed to the Free State U21 squad in 2012 and started all thirteen of their matches during the 2012 Under-21 Provincial Championship, scoring three tries as his side once again reached the semi-finals.

The following season, Jordaan played in the 2013 Varsity Cup for UFS Shimlas, making two appearances. He was then included in the Free State XV squad for the 2013 Vodacom Cup and he made his first class debut in their 33–34 defeat to a Sharks XV in Durban in Round Three of the competition by coming on as a late replacement.^[3] He got increasingly more game time off the bench in his two appearances against the Border Bulldogs in Alice^[4] and Argentine side Pampas XV in Stellenbosch^[5] before making his first start in a senior match in a 37–41 defeat to Western Province in Bloemfontein^[6] which condemned them to fifth spot on the log, missing out on a quarter final spot. He returned to action for the Free State U21 side during the 2013 Under-21 Provincial Championship, making seven starts.

He played seven times for the UFS Shimlas during the 2014 Varsity Cup competition, scoring a try against Wits^[7] and a brace against NWU Pukke a week later.^[8]

He also started two matches for Welkom-based provincial outfit Griffons during the 2014 Vodacom Cup competition and made one appearance for them in the 2014 Currie Cup qualification tournament in their match against the SWD Eagles in George,^[9] his first appearance in the Currie Cup competition.

Jordaan started all nine of the UFS Shimlas' matches during the 2015 Varsity Cup competition. He scored three tries during the round-robin stage of the competition to help Shimlas finish top of the log and qualify for a home semi-final. He opened the scoring in their semi-final match against two-time champions UCT Ikey Tigers by scoring a 10th-minute try in a 21–10 victory to help them qualify for their first ever final. He scored yet another try in the final against the NWU Pukke as Shimlas ran out comfortable 63–33 winners^[10] to win their first ever Varsity Cup title.

Cheetahs

After the 2015 Varsity Cup, Shimlas head coach Franco Smith was appointed as the head coach of Super Rugby side the Cheetahs^[11] and he included four Shimlas players in his first match in charge against the Waratahs, with Jordaan named as the starting number eight for the match.^[12]

References