Pierre Spies announces his retirement.

Former Bulls and Springbok eighth man Pierre Spies has announced his retirement.

Spies made his debut for the Springboks in 2006 against Australia in Brisbane and made a total of 53 appearances for his country.

He played for the Boks in three positions, No 8 (48 games), flank (four games) and wing (one game).

The 32-year-old joined Montpellier in 2016 but was recently released despite being contracted until next season, after new coach Vern Cotter said Spies was not part of his plans.

Spies earned a total of 119 caps for the Bulls between 2005 and 2015, before joining the Kintetsu Liners in Japan for one season. He played eight times for Kintetsu before he moved to Montpellier to play under Jake White, but the former Bok coach’s exit at the club brought on many changes, including the release of Spies.