A surgical instrument for positioning a rod includes a rod holder, a sleeve, and a pusher rod. The rod holder has a pair of opposing yieldable tines configured to grip at least a first end of a rod releasably between them. The sleeve is disposed about the rod holder and slideable between an extended position in which the sleeve is positioned about the tines so as to hold the tines in a rod gripping position when the rod is positioned between the tines, and a retracted position in which the sleeve is positioned such that the tines are outwardly moveable to permit release of the rod from the tines. The pusher rod is slidably disposed within the hollow rod holder and has a distal end with a plurality of rod receiving notches configured to engage the first end of the rod such that when the rod is gripped by the tines of the rod holder with the sleeve in the extended position and the distal end of the pusher rod is in contact with the first end of the rod, the rod is held at a selected angle with respect to the pusher rod.
