The Rugby World Cup returns to Australia in 2027. It will be the third Men’s Rugby World Cup with matches in Australia and the second with every match played in the country. It will also be the final tournament before the Americas hosts for the first time in 2031.
A changed tournament awaits with expansion to 24 teams for RWC 2027 and downsizing having been confirmed as seven cities will host matches compared to ten in 2003. Four Americas teams will be returning and comparisons will be made as players, coaches and supporters remember how their countries performed back at RWC 2003.
The landscape of Americas Rugby has changed greatly in between Rugby World Cups 2003 and 2027. The position of the four teams in relation to where they were then and now has been altered. Moreover, The Americas will have a record participation of five teams at Rugby World Cup 2027.
| CANADA |
Canada has a satisfactory overall performance at Rugby World Cup 2003. The North Americans competed against Wales and New Zealand in Melbourne, Italy in Canberra and Tonga in Wollongong. Canada had two good performances with a 19-14 loss against Italy and a 24-7 win over Tonga.
The match schedule was far from ideal; however, as Canada had a limited turn-around in between games one and two and two and three. Canada faced Wales on October 12, then New Zealand on October 17 and Italy on October 21.
Despite one win having been the minimum target, there was reason, at the time and looking back now, to suggest that Canada was capable of winning two matches; indeed, Quentin Fyffe’s 67th minute try was the last score of that match. Be that as it may, results at subsequent Rugby World Cups have not been improvements. Canada’s place at the start of 2026 is well below that back in 2003.
 USA |
The USA got the job done at Rugby World Cup 2003. The Eagles faced Fiji and Scotland in Brisbane, Japan in Gosford and France in Wollongong. The fixture dates were demanding with the matches played on October 15, October 20, October 27 and October 31.
The Eagles’ opening match against Fiji came close to producing a major upset. Fiji, who were backing-up from facing France four days earlier, were 19-18 winners. Californian Kort Schubert scored in the left corner in the 80th minute. Mike Hercus had the opportunity to convert for victory but his attempt was wide. Schubert held his head but did so while smiling.
The USA’s next match was twelve days later. It was treated as their World Cup Final. The Eagles did not disappoint as they ran in five tries to two and defeated Japan 39-26. It was the Eagles’ second ever win in a Rugby World Cup match and ensured a successful World Cup for Dave Hodges and his teammates. The USA ended with a 41-14 loss against France who were the clear pool winners.
 URUGUAY |
Los Teros competed against Georgia, Samoa, South Africa and England in their pool. The first half of the pool saw all matches played in Perth with Uruguay facing South Africa and Samoa on October 11 and 15 respectively. Uruguay the faced Georgia in Sydney on October 28 and England in Brisbane on November 02.
The unbalanced fixture dates affected Uruguay’s ability to be consistent during the tournament. Game two against Samoa was three rest days after facing South Africa. It was also Samoa’s first match. Similarly, Uruguay had less than ideal days to recover from facing Georgia before facing England. In short, Uruguay was not wrong to focus on specific matches.
Uruguay suffered heavily losses at RWC 2023 but the tournament was a success due to the 24-12 win over Georgia. The team was invited to face South Africa the following year but all was not well as Uruguay discovered in failing to qualify for RWCs 2007 and 2011. Those experiences helped reshape Uruguay to now be a permanent Rugby World Cup participant, have a High Performance Center and a be a rising team that is now ranked 14th in the world rankings.
 ARGENTINA |
RWC 2023 was a low moment for Los Pumas but perhaps a necessary one? On the one hand, while the 2003 tournament was unfolding in Australia it was clear that all was not right. On the other hand, many of the same players won Bronze at RWC 2007. In addition, Argentina were also Semi Finalists at RWCs 2015 and 2023.
The RWC 2003 tournament organizers put together a schedule which saw Los Pumas playing all four of their pool matches before England had played their third match. Argentina played on October 10 against Australia in Sydney, on October 14 vs Namibia in Gosford, on October 22 vs Romania in Sydney, and on October 26 vs Ireland in Adelaide.
Marcelo Loffreda needed to rotate heavily to negotiate three rest days between game one and two and again between games three and four. He lacked comparative opportunities of other coaches to build from one game to the next. Argentina fielded high proportions of replacements in beating Namibia 67-14 and Romania 50-3.
The big wins were overshadowed by Argentina losing 24-8 to Australia and 16-15 to Ireland. Despite the match against Ireland being Argentina’s final pool match, Australia vs Ireland was played the following weekend in Melbourne.
