USA qualify for 2007 Rugby World Cup in France

October 8, 2006

The USA rugby union team has qualified for the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France. They defeated Uruguay in succession; in Montevideo 42-13 on September 30, and 33-7 in California on October 7. The USA team originally missed out on qualifying during an earlier round of the Americas qualifing tournament with Canada taking that position.

USA went through as 'Americas 4' to Pool A, where they join 2003 champions England, and the 1995 champions, South Africa. The other nation in the pool is Samoa, and one other nation that has yet to qualify, which will be either an Oceania or Asian nation. The USA have been to four World Cups in the past, with their best results being in 1987 and 2003 where they won one fixture in the pool rounds.

Next year's World Cup kicks off on September 7, and the USA will play their first game on September 8, against reigning World Champions England in Lens. Uruguay, although having lost the series against the USA, have one more chance at qualification : the series against the winner of (Africa 2 v Europe 4) to qualify as Repechage 1.