This disclosure relates to a spinal implant that can provisionally retain a rod in an assembly head without having to first lock the rod relative to the assembly head. The spinal implant has a clip insert structured to retain the rod in the assembly head. The clip insert has a top portion with a cylindrical opening and extending over the cylindrical opening to cover the connection rod in part when the connection rod is engaged in the clip insert. The top portion is deformable by application of force on the connection rod to engage the connection rod with the clip insert. The clip insert and the assembly head are mechanically decoupled and can be fully received within the assembly head. The mechanical forces to which the assembly head is subjected are not transmitted to the clip insert.
