South African centre Ryan Nell played in Major League Rugby between 2020-2022. He represented Rugby ATL for his entire MLR career.

A native of Port Elizabeth in South Africa, Ryan Nell developed in the Western Province system, representing their U19 and U21 as well as the University of Stellenbosch side the Maties at the Varsity Cup from 2011-13. While at university, Nell was named to the South Africa Sevens side for the 2011/12 IRB World Sevens Series, appearing at a pair of tournaments in London and Scotland. He matured into the Western Province Currie Cup side and earned his debut in 2013 before jumping around a number of Currie Cup teams in South Africa between 2014-2019 including the Blue Bulls, Boland Cavaliers, and ultimately the Pumas in 2017.

In late 2019, Rugby ATL announced the signing of Ryan Nell ahead of their inaugural 2020 campaign where he started all 5 games for the team before the COVID-19 Pandemic cancelled the season early. He returned in 2021 and once again started all of his games, adding 4 appearances and his first MLR try for the RATLers to help them advance to the MLR Championship game where they fell to the LA Giltinis. Nell was in the starting lineup for the 2021 Championship Game. His appearances were low that year due to a serious knee injury that ruled him out of a large chunk of the season.

Nell enjoyed a standout year the following season in 2022. Although he didn’t add any tries, he set career highs across the board otherwise, starting 9 of his 14 appearances and gaining over 500m in possession while completing 72 tackles on defence, half of his career total in MLR. This brought Nell’s career totals in Major League Rugby to 18 starts in 23 games for Rugby ATL, with just shy of 900m gained in possession and 144 tackles made.

Achievements

• 2021 MLR Runner-Up: Rugby ATL