Pierre Spies : Bulls didn’t want to keep me

Springbok No.8 Pierre Spies has confirmed that he will play for Montpellier
next season and revealed that the Bulls told him they didn’t want him.

Spies will play under Jake White from February next year after the Rugby World
Cup and a stint in Japan.

The thirty-year-old has won 53 caps for South Africa and is the ninth player
from South Africa to have joined the southern French team under White who coached
South Africa to a world cup title in 2007.

The Bulls confirmed earlier this month that Spies will not be playing Super
Rugby for them next season which could mean that he has played his final match
of Super Rugny.

“The Bulls told me that they weren’t going to keep me,” Spies told
Midi Olympique newspaper.

“That’s when Jake White called me. Having come across him with the Springboks,
I know he’s world rugby’s best leader. I said yes immediately.”

White coached the Sharks last season but left midway through the Currie Cup
season. He joined Montpellier in December but the club missed out on the play-offs
for the first time in five seasons.

The coach has since gone on a massive recruitment drive, most recently snapping
up South African brothers Jannie and Bismark du Plessis, two stalwarts of the
Springbok pack.

White has also signed a number of players that he worked with during his time
with the Brumbies in 2013.