Florida to host USA-Uruguay qualifier
USA Rugby has officially announced that its Rugby World Cup qualifier against Uruguay will kick off at Broward County Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida on 21 November 2009 at 14:00 (EST).
This will follow one week after the first half of the play-off, which will be played in Montevideo, Uruguay on 14 November.
"It is imperative that we reach the Rugby World Cup in 2011," said USA men's National Team Coach Eddie O'Sullivan. "We allowed a great opportunity to slip away in July against Canada, but we have to put that disappointment behind us and now focus on getting a result against Uruguay."
USA beat Canada 12-6 on home soil on 4 July but Canada won 41-18 in Edmonton to clinch the Americas 1 spot in Pool A of the upcoming Rugby World Cup in New Zealand on aggregate.
The tie against Uruguay is, therefore, the Eagles' second chance to qualify, as Americas 2.
The team will assemble in Florida on Sunday 8 November before departing for Montevideo the following Tuesday. The teams will then meet again one week later in Florida.
Over the past 20 years, the USA has a 9-1 win-loss record over Uruguay and played the South American side to qualify for the last World Cup four years ago, winning that series 75-20 on aggregate.
Despite that record, O'Sullivan is adamant that the Eagles cannot be complacent: "Uruguay will be a difficult test for us to overcome. They have recently put in strong performances against Russia, Romania and Scotland," he said.
"With limited preparation time available before the first test, we will have to hit the ground running in Montevideo."
The winner of this tie will go on to play Australia, Ireland, Italy as well as the second qualifying team from Europe in Pool C.
For the losing side, there will be a further play-off to decide the 20th qualifying team in the Rugby World Cup. That process would include the loser of this two-game series versus the second-placed Asian side, with the winner playing the winner of a second 'semi final' between Europe 3 and Africa 2.
Tickets to the USA-based Rugby World Cup Qualifying match against Uruguay will go on sale soon. For details, check www.usarugby.org. For media information, interviews or credentials, contact Sara John at sjohn@usarugby.org.
