TRU Exclusive with Scotland's WP Nel

Lewis Hughes sat down with Edinburgh and Scotland tighthead prop WP Nel to discuss the Scottish tour to Japan, the upcoming season with Edinburgh and who he’d most like to beat in the autumn tests.

You played a prominent part in Scotland’s tour of Japan this summer could you describe for us what is what like first to actually play in Aichi and Tokyo and then go toe-to-toe with one of the growing powers in world rugby?

All I can say is that the games were really humid, it was definitely one of the toughest tours I’ve done in the last few years. I think (the tour) was great for us, it was good to see where we are and obviously win the two matches.

Were you personally satisfied with how the tour went or do you feel there’s still area that need improvement for Scotland ahead of the coming season?

Yes, there’s always areas to improve but I think we’re getting a settled group of players and from now on it’s about just working on what the coaches are putting in front of us.

Scotland play Australia, Argentina and Georgia in this year’s autumn tests and without jinxing it you should play a prominent part in the Scotland squad again. What are you hoping to achieve this coming season with Scotland; have you earmarked specific tests to win this autumn or are you thinking more about the Six Nations?

I think we will just take the first three tests as they come and then we’ll look to the Six Nations, the autumn tests are the priority. For us we want to go out there and win all three and that’ll be a good building block for us going into the Six Nations

If you could only pick one of the autumn tests to win (Argentina, Australia, Georgia), which would it be?

Australia.

Is that because of The Rugby Championship rivalry with you being from South Africa or because it would be a big win to get under your belt for Scotland?

No, I think it’d just be good to turn them over after what happened in the quarter-finals of the World Cup. There is also bit of rivalry having played the Australians in Super Rugby so it would be doubly good to turn them over.

Moving over to club rugby, how has pre-season training with Edinburgh gone so far?

Very good; everything looks on track so far and we feel like we are building a good group of players. Things are looking promising for the coming season.

What is the hardest part about coming back into pre-season training after the summer?

Fitness. Fitness is always the worst thing about preseason. In-season it’s more about preparing from game-to-game but it’s always harder in the pre-season to get everything sorted (fitness-wise) so that you can build on it throughout the season.

What do you feel would be a respectable finish for Edinburgh this season? Is getting back into the top-six in the Pro 12 the main aim or do you think you can aim a little bit higher and challenge for the play-offs?

I think we are definitely going for top-four, that’s our goal. That’s our focus for this season and we are going to go all out for that.

Has anybody stood out to you during preseason as one to watch this coming year? Either a new signing at Edinburgh or a player coming through the system or perhaps involved with the international setup with Scotland?

I think there is a lot of young guys coming through [at Edinburgh], especially in the backrow - Jamie Ritchie and Magnus [Bradbury]. I think there’s a lot of young talent throughout the pack but those two boys will definitely have a big influence on the season and will have a big part to play.

WP Nel was speaking at Biggar RFC as part of the Royal Bank RugbyForce 2016 initiative. For more information, visit www.scottishrugby.org/rugbyforce