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Pretoria - Springbok No 8 and Blue Bulls captain Pierre Spies will not play rugby again this year, even though surgery to his injured finger was successful.
There was hope that Spies would be able to play again in the latter rounds of the Currie Cup, after being ruled out for between 8-12 weeks at the beginning of August, and if not that, would be able to make an appearance if needed on the end of year tour.
But those hopes have been squashed by Spies himself, who told the supersport.com website he was unlikely to play again this year.
“I was hoping to, but the finger is healing slowly, so next year is more likely,” he confirmed.
Spies sustained the fracture to the joint in his finger while playing Super Rugby for the Bulls, but only realised the full extent of the injury before the start of the Rugby Championship.
He underwent surgery while the Boks were in Argentina and has been on a rehabilitation programme ever since.
While Spies has been running at Loftus and working hard to ensure his fitness levels don’t drop, the Bulls captain is not likely to push the injury.
Bulls team doctor Org Strauss agreed it was unlikely Spies would play this year again.
“It looks that way,” Strauss said.
Bok coach Heyneke Meyer currently has Duane Vermeulen at No 8 with Spies and Schalk Burger out with injury, and Ryan Kankowski plying his trade in Japan.
