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In just under eight months time RWC 2019 will be officially underway. The showpiece tournament for rugby will feature twenty countries playing in Japan in four challenging pools of five. Only the best two from each will advance to the Quarter Finals.
In the first of a series of four articles Americas Rugby News (ARN) looks at the Road to RWC 2019. The Americas will be represented by Argentina, Canada, Uruguay, and the USA. In the series ARN begins by looking at what matches Uruguay will be playing in 2019.
For Los Teros the international year begins on Thursday. In their first match of the year Uruguay will play against Los Jaguares in a special attraction fixture in Montevideo. For the hosts the match is to be a warm-up for the Americas Rugby Championship (ARC).
Uruguay’s first capped international will take place nine days later. As was the case in 2018, Uruguay will face Canada in round one of the 2019 ARC. It is to be one of three home matches in the tournament for Los Teros. The other two are to be against Chile and Brazil in rounds two and five.
For Uruguay the 2019 ARC sees two away games. The first will be against the Argentina XV on February 23. It is to fall following a bye round and be followed by a trip to Washington state to face the USA in round four.
In May Uruguay will play in the second edition of the Sudamérica 6 Naciones A. As was the case in 2018 the team will be the Uruguay XV, the national next of XV and will thereby not be capped internationals.
A change from 2018 will see the 2019 Nations Cup counting as fully capped test matches. Uruguay is to again be playing on home soil but this time around three visitors are coming of RWC quality. Namibia, Romania, and Russia will each play in the competition with Los Teros set to face all of them. Match dates are yet to be confirmed.
In August Uruguay is to have additional home games before departing for Japan. Los Teros are to play host to Namibia in a two match home series. It is to be the second of its kind following the November 2017 series which Uruguay won 2-0 in Windhoek, Namibia. A game against the Sudamérica XV is to conclude the warm-ups. That game is penciled in for September 07.
| DATE | FIXTURE | VENUE |
| January 24 | Uruguay vs Jaguares | Montevideo |
| February 02 | Uruguay vs Canada | Montevideo |
| February 08 | Uruguay vs Chile | Montevideo |
| February 23 | Argentina XV vs Uruguay | Buenos Aires |
| March 02 | USA vs Uruguay | Seattle |
| March 09 | Uruguay vs Brazil | Montevideo |
| June * | Uruguay vs Romania | Montevideo |
| June * | Uruguay vs Namibia | Montevideo |
| June * | Uruguay vs Russia | Montevideo |
| August * | Uruguay vs Namibia | Montevideo |
| August * | Uruguay vs Namibia | Montevideo |
| September * | Uruguay vs Sudamérica XV | Montevideo |
* Months confirmed though specific dates remain unknown.
At RWC 2019 itself Uruguay will compete in Pool D. The South Americans are the bottom seeds in their group. They are up against Australia, Fiji, Georgia, and Wales.
For Uruguay it is to be a similar pool to that of RWC 2015. The tournament in England and Wales was Uruguay’s come-back following a failure to qualify for RWCs 2007 and 2011. RWC 2019 will be Uruguay’s fourth appearance in a Rugby World Cup. In 1999 and 2003 Los Teros recorded wins over Spain and Georgia.
Uruguay’s RWC 2019 match fixtures are displayed in the following table.
| DATE | FIXTURE | VENUE |
| September 25 | Uruguay vs Fiji | Kamaishi |
| September 29 | Uruguay vs Georgia | Kumagaya |
| October 05 | Uruguay vs Australia | Oita |
| October 13 | Uruguay vs Wales | Kumamoto |
