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

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

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 has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

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 the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

and attended

Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (also known as Affies), is a Public school (government funded), public Afrikaans, Afrikaans medium high school for boys situated in the suburb of Arcadia, Pretoria, Elandspoort in Pretoria in the Gauteng province of So ...

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

Wynand Olivier Wynand Olivier (born 11 June 1983) is a former South African professional rugby union player.His usual position was at centre. Career Olivier made his provincial rugby debut for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup in a match against Boland in 200 ...

, professional rugby players

Derick Kuün Derick Kuün (born 8 June 1984) is a South African former professional rugby union player. Biography A Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool product, Kuün captained South Africa Schools and represented his country in three editions of the IRB Junior World ...

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, Adriaan Fondse and cricketers

AB de Villiers Abraham Benjamin de Villiers (born 17 February 1984) is a South African former international cricketer. He is regarded as one of the greatest batters of his generation. de Villiers was named as the ODI Player of the Year three times during h ...

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 Cric ...

and

Faf du Plessis François "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 among the best all-format ...

. After school, he completed his first year in

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

Construction Management at the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria (, ) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and ''de facto'' capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 as the Pretoria campus of the Johan ...

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

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, 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 has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

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. Part ...

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

2006 Tri Nations Series The 2006 Tri Nations Series was the 10th Tri Nations Series, an annual rugby union competition between the national teams of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. New Zealand won the competition with three rounds still to play after their vi ...

. 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 language, Dutch: ''City of Rest'') is a town at the foot of the Magaliesberg mountain range. Rustenburg is the most populous city in North West (South African province), North West province, South Africa (549 ...

and in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

. 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 Kings Park Stadium in Durban, in the first final between two South African teams in the history of Super Rug ...

, 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 Jacob Charles 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 ...

'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 organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...

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

. 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 national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

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 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, which was also ...

and then moved to top French club

Montpellier Hérault Rugby Montpellier Hérault Rugby (MHR) (; ) is a French professional rugby union club, based in Montpellier, Occitanie and named after the Hérault department. The club competes in the top level of the French league system, the Top 14. They original ...

, 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 former South African professional rugby union player who previously played for the South Africa national team. He also previously played for Ulster Rugby in the United Rugby Championsh ...

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