South African Rugby
Springboks add McLeod to squad
ESPNscrum Staff
June 29, 2011
John Smit, Jean de Villiers and Victor Matfield at the launch of South Africa's World Cup shirt, South Africa, June 30, 2011
South Africa's new jersey for the 2011 Rugby World Cup © Getty Images
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South Africa have called-up Sharks scrum-half Charl McLeod to their preliminary World Cup training squad.

McLeod replaces Stormers scrum-half Ricky Januarie who recently announced his retirement from international rugby. Januarie, capped 47 times by the Springboks, will join Top 14 side Lyon for the 2011-12 season and asked to be released from the squad to concentrate on the next stage of his career.

McLeod started against the Crusaders last Saturday but was powerless to prevent the Durban franchise being knocked out of this season's Super Rugby competition. The training squad will meet in Cape Town from July 5 to 8 but Stormers players will not attend the camp if their team reaches the Super Rugby final. South Africa coach Peter de Villiers names his Tri-Nations squad on July 9 ahead of their clash against Australia on July 23.

The Springboks have also unveiled their shirt for the forthcoming World Cup. The shirt incorporates gold detailing and the dates of their two World Cup triumphs, 1995 and 2007, on the right arm. The construction of the jersey and the position of the fabric is also meant to improve the player's ability to evade tackles.

"The Springboks were extensively involved in the design of the jersey and in its testing and assessment of its epical features and they were more than happy with the outcome," Jurie Roux, CEO of the South African Rugby Union said. "A rugby jersey is one of the key tools of a player's trade and having one that works to give them that fractional advantage on the field is another way of maximising their ability to perform."

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