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Chile will play host to the USA on Saturday, July 09. The all-important-fixture is the first of two Rugby World Cup 2023 qulaifiers between the countries from the Americas. Game two will take place in Denver, Colorado on July 16. The winner of the series, on aggregate, will qualify for RWC 2023 as Americas 2.
Chile Rugby have confirmed that the match will be played in the Chilean capital of Santiago. The fixture will take-place on July 09 at the Estadio Santa Laura Universidad SEK. The venue is the home of club Unión Española a soccer team that competes in the country’s professional league.
The Estadio Santa Laura Universidad SEK has a capacity of 20,000. It was chosen by Chile Rugby for several reasons. First, the proximity of spectators to the field; there is not an athletic track. Second, it is well-located with subway access at the Plaza Chacabuco. Third, the governing body aims to attract a full attendance.
The winner of the Americas 2 series will qualify for Pool D of Rugby World Cup 2023. The team will join Argentina, England, Japan and Samoa in the group. In the event that Chile qualify then there will be a match between South Amefican teams for the first time in RWC history.
The loser of the Chile vs USA series will not be eliminated from qualifying. Instead, that team will enter repechage as Americas 3. The repechage series will include teams from other regions. A tournament will be held in November to determine who qualifies. The sucessful team will play in Pool B which presently contains Ireland, Scotland, South Africa and Spain. Los Leones are to be replaced by Romania due to player eligibility violations.
