Breaking news: Sharks scrumhalf Charl McLeod has beaten off the challenge of Cheetahs rival Sarel Pretorius as the replacement for the 'retired' Enrico Januarie.
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It was announced on Thursday that McLeod has been called in to the Bok training squad in place of Januarie, who last week retired from international rugby.

This will be a slap in the face of Pretorius, who has consistently been the most outstanding South African scrumhalf in Super Rugby.

It was also confirmed that the preliminary Bok World Cup squad has been called into camp in Cape Town from July 5 to 8 - to begin preparations for the international season.

Stormers players will not attend if their team is involved in the Super Rugby final.

The Stormers play the Crusaders in the semifinal in Cape Town this Saturday.

The players will undergo medical assessments to assist in selection for the Tri-Nations.

The squad for the first leg of the Tri-Nations will be named on July 9.

Preliminary World Cup squad:
(Under headings province, caps, Test points and previous World Cups)

Willem Alberts (Sharks, 3, 15 [3 tries], 0 )
Gio Aplon (Western Province, 13, 15 [3 tries], 0)
Bjorn Basson (Blue Bulls, 4, 0, 0)
Andries Bekker (Western Province, 24, 5 [1 try], 0)
Bakkies Botha (Blue Bulls, 72, 35 [7 tries], 2)
BJ Botha (Ulster, 25, 5 [1 try], 1)
Heinrich Brüssow (Free State Cheetahs, 13, 5 [1 try], 0)
Schalk Burger (Western Province, 63, 65 [13 tries], 2)
Juan de Jongh (Western Province, 6, 5 [1 try], 0)
Jean de Villiers (Western Province, 67, 95 [19 tries], 1)
Bismarck du Plessis (Sharks, 36, 25 [5 tries], 1)
Jannie du Plessis (Sharks, 24, 5 [1 try] 0 1)
Fourie du Preez (Blue Bulls, 55, 65 [13 tries], 1)
Jaque Fourie (Western Province, 62, 150 [30 tries], 2)
Dean Greyling (Blue Bulls, 0, 0,  0)
Bryan Habana (Western Province, 68, 190 [38 tries], 1)
Alistair Hargreaves (Sharks, 2, 0, 0)
Francois Hougaard (Blue Bulls, 8, 0, 0)
Adrian Jacobs (Sharks, 32, 35 [7 tries], 0)
Butch James (Golden Lions, 40, 148 [3t, 26c, 26p, 1dg], 1)
Elton Jantjies (Golden Lions, 0, 0, 0)
Ashley Johnson (Free State Cheetahs, 0, 0, 0)
Ryan Kankowski (Sharks, 17, 5 [1 try], 0)
Zane Kirchner (Blue Bulls, 14, 5 [1 try], 0)
Werner Kruger (Blue Bulls, 0, 0, 0)
Patrick Lambie (Sharks, 4, 2 [1 c], 0)
Francois Louw (Western Province, 7, 10 [2 tries], 0)
Victor Matfield (Blue Bulls, 105, 35 [7 tries], 2)
Charl McLeod (Sharks, 0, 0, 0)
Tendai Mtawarira (Sharks, 26, 5 [1 try], 0)
Johann Muller (Ulster, 23, 0, 1)
Lwazi Mvovo (Sharks, 2, 5 [1 try], 0)
Odwa Ndungane (Sharks, 7, 10 [2 tries], 0)
Wynand Olivier (Blue Bulls, 32, 5 [1 try], 1)
Coenie Oosthuizen (Free State Cheetahs, 0, 0, 0)
Ruan Pienaar (Ulster, 47, 107 [6t, 13c, 17p], 1)
JP Pietersen (Sharks, 36, 60 [12 tries], 1)
Chiliboy Ralepelle (Blue Bulls, 18, 0, 0)
Danie Rossouw (Blue Bulls, 54, 40 [8 tries], 2)
John Smit (Sharks, 102, 30 [6 tries], 2)
Juan Smith (Free State Cheetahs, 69, 60 [12 tries], 2)
Pierre Spies (Blue Bulls, 40, 35 [7 tries], 0)
Gurthrö Steenkamp (Blue Bulls, 31, 25 [5 tries], 1)
Deon Stegmann (Blue Bulls, 4, 0, 0)
Frans Steyn (Racing Metro, 42, 97 [6t, 5c, 16p, 3dg], 1)
Morné Steyn (Blue Bulls, 25, 322 [4t, 37c, 71p, 5dg], 0)
Adriaan Strauss (Free State Cheetahs, 9, 0, 0)
Flip van der Merwe (Blue Bulls, 10, 5 [1 try], 0)
Duane Vermeulen (Western Province, 0, 0, 0)