Pierre Johan Spies (born 8 June 1985 in Pretoria) is a retired South African

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. He usually played as a Number 8, but could also play as a flanker and at times was deployed on the wing. Between 2005 and 2015, he spent the majority of his career playing

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

for the and domestic South African rugby for the , followed by stints in the Japanese and French rugby championships. He represented internationally between 2006 and 2013.

Personal

Spies was born on 8 June 1985 in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

and attended

Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (also known as Affies), is a public Afrikaans medium high school for boys situated in the suburb of Elandspoort in Pretoria in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The school was founded in 1920 by Jan Joubert and ...

(Afrikaans High School for Boys, also known as Affies), a public school located in Pretoria. He attended alongside future Springbok teammates

Fourie du Preez Petrus Fourie du Preez (; born 24 March 1982) is a South African former professional rugby union player. He played as a scrum half for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup competition and the Bulls in Super Rugby between 2002 and 2011, and for Ja ...

and Wynand Olivier, professional rugby players Derick Kuün,

Jacques-Louis Potgieter Jacques-Louis Potgieter (born 2 September 1984 in Pretoria) is a South African rugby union player, currently playing with French side . His regular position is fly-half. Career He made his Super 14 debut for the against the in 2007. In 200 ...

Gerhard van den Heever Gerhard Jacobus van den Heever (born 13 April 1989) is a South African-born Japanese rugby union player for the in Super Rugby and Kubota Spears in the Top League. His regular playing position is as a wing. Education Van den Heever attended ...

Adriaan Fondse Adriaan Fondse (born 9 June 1983) is a South African rugby union footballer formerly playing for Newcastle Falcons. Education Fondse attended Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Afrikaans High School for Boys, also known as Affies), a public school lo ...

and cricketers

AB de Villiers Abraham Benjamin de Villiers (born 17 February 1984) is a former South African international cricketer. AB de Villiers was named as the ICC ODI Player of the Year three times during his 15-year international career and was one of the five Wi ...

Heino Kuhn Heino Gunther Kuhn (born 1 April 1984) is a South African cricketer who has played for the national team. He has played for Titans and Northerns in South African domestic cricket and in March 2018 signed a Kolpak contract with Kent County Cri ...

and

Faf du Plessis Francois "Faf" du Plessis ( ; born 13 July 1984) is a South African professional cricketer and former captain of the South Africa national cricket team. He is considered one of the greatest fielders of all time and is among the best all-forma ...

. After school, he completed his first year in

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

Construction Management at the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was ...

. He married Juanne Weidemann, in December 2008. Spies is a devout

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, but although both his parents are ministers he only started practicing his faith when he was in his twenties.

Rugby

He made his first class debut for the in 2005 in a match against . He made his

Super 12 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

debut against the , becoming the youngest player ever to represent the . However, he picked up an injury in this match and reverted to the side, where he scored nine tries in six games in the 2005 Under-21 Provincial Championship. After representing the South African Under-21 side at the

2006 Under 21 Rugby World Championship The 2006 Under 21 Rugby World Championship was played in the Auvergne region of France throughout June 2006. The final was played between South Africa and France at the Stade Marcel-Michelin in Clermont-Ferrand, which saw France win 24–13. Parti ...

in France, Spies made his Springbok debut their 49–0 defeat at the hands of in the

2006 Tri Nations Series 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. He was retained for the home leg of the tournament and turned in two "Man-of-the-Match" performances, in their wins over the in

Rustenburg Rustenburg (; , Afrikaans and Dutch: ''City of Rest'') is a city at the foot of the Magaliesberg mountain range. Rustenburg is the most populous city in North West province, South Africa (549,575 in 2011 and 626,522 in the 2016 census). In 2017 ...

and in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

. He was injured in a match against on the Springboks' end of year tour, which ruled him out for the rest of the tour, as well as much of the

2007 Super 14 season The 2007 Super 14 season started in February 2007 with preseason matches held from mid-January. It finished on 19 May with the final at ABSA Stadium in Durban, in the first final between two South African teams in the history of Super Rugby. The ...

, but he did make his comeback for the Bulls in their 49–12 victory over southern rivals the . On 21 July 2007, Spies was selected in

Jake White Jake White (born 13 December 1963 as ''Jacob Westerduin'') is a professional rugby union coach and former coach of the South African national team – the ''Springboks'' – whom he coached to victory in 2007 Rugby World Cup and the 2004 Tri ...

's Springbok squad for the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

to be played in France in September, but was forced to withdraw from the squad nine days later after blood clots were found in his lungs. After getting a second opinion, it was stated that Spies could return to the World Cup squad if a third opinion was positive. However, the third diagnosis confirmed the original one and Spies withdrew from the squad. He returned to the Springboks' team for the 2008 June internationals against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. In domestic rugby, he was nominated for the 2008 Currie Cup Player of the Year, South African Player of the Year, International Player of the Year and won the award for South Africa's Most Promising Player of the Year and Sportsman of the Year. In 2009, his performances in the Super 14 earned him a selection for the Springboks to play against the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

during their tour to South Africa. He was also selected for South Africa's end-of-year tour, but injured his finger and was ruled out. In 2015, after having been released by the Bulls, Spies played a few matches with Japanese club

Kintetsu Liners Hanazono Kintetsu Liners rugby team are a Japanese rugby union team owned by Kintetsu Corporation which was founded in 1929. They have won the All-Japan Championship three times as an amateur team. Their home is at Hanazono Rugby Stadium in Hig ...

and then moved to top French club

Montpellier Hérault Rugby Montpellier Hérault Rugby (; oc, Montpelhièr Erau Rugbi Club) is a French professional rugby union club, based in Montpellier, Occitanie and named after the Hérault river. The club competes in the top level of the French league system, the ...

, then coached by the Jake White. In 2017, after his contract with Montpellier had not been renewed, Spies announced to have decided to retire from rugby.

Physical

As of 2009, Spies could power clean 135 kg, dead-lift 240 kg, bench-press 165 kg and do pull-ups with a 50 kg weight between his legs. He could jump 1.4m onto a raised platform and had a body-fat percentage of 6.5. He was "rumoured" to be able to run 100m in around 11seconds, his speed anyway so high to have been fielded on the wing at times. Spies was credited with great strength, and pace for his size, but was criticised for a lack of physicality, especially if compared to fellow South African No.8

Duane Vermeulen Daniel Johannes "Duane" Vermeulen (born 3 July 1986) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the South Africa national rugby union team, South Africa national team and Ulster Rugby in the United Rugby Champion ...

Injuries hampered his later career. He was in general regarded more suitable to break the defenders' line and play in the space than being the typical Springbok forward, menacing and physically imposing at the ruck.

Personal

Rugby

Physical

References

External links