 He was named on the bench for their first match of the season against the  and came on as a replacement in the 54th minutes of a 14–37 defeat to make his first class debut.He made two more appearances off the bench before making his first senior start on 30 April 2016 against Namibian side the in Windhoek.In addition to making his first senior start, Nieuwoudt also took less than ten minutes to score his first try in first class rugby as the Eastern Province Kings won the match 31–18.