The Americas Zone qualifying campaign began with two separate events, the Caribbean (NAWIRA) zone tournament doubling as the Caribbean Championships in the North and the CONSUR Division Two’s four nations forming a pool in the South.
The Cayman Islands hosted the knockout tournament from 20-24 November 2001 when seven teams – St Lucia withdrew to give Bermuda a bye into the semi-finals – battled for a place in the second round against the South winners.
Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago and the Cayman Islands joined Bermuda in the last four by defeating the Bahamas, Jamaica and Guyana respectively. Once there Bermuda overcame Barbados 13-5, while Trinidad & Tobago beat the hosts 12-8.
Trinidad & Tobago then beat Bermuda 23-12 in the final, a few days after Brazil had triumphed 14-3 in their winner-takes-all clash with Venezuela, both having already beaten rivals Peru and Colombia, to top the pool.
Brazil drew first blood in the two legged play off with Trinidad & Tobago, although only after Mario Dominguez’s late try sealed an 11-10 victory. A month later Brazil’s 9-0 win on home soil saw them qualify for the next phase.
The third round saw Paraguay and Chile enter the fray, both having been given a bye to this stage, with the latter ending Brazil’s unbeaten run with a convincing 46-6 win in Sao Paulo on 13 April.
Paraguay squeezed past Brazil by a single point, but could do little to stop Chile joining Canada, Uruguay and the United States in the final round of the Americas Zone qualifiers with a 57-5 victory in Santiago.
The top two in this round would both qualify automatically for Rugby World Cup 2003 with the third placed team entering the Répechage, and Canada immediately set their sights on the more straightforward route with two wins over the United States.
By the midway point of the home and away fixtures, the United States had recovered with two wins, Chile had won one and Uruguay were seemingly staring elimination in the face after three defeats on the road.
However Uruguay rediscovered a winning touch on their return to Montevideo to record their first ever victories over Canada (25-23) and the United States (10-9), in doing so keeping their World Cup dreams alive.
Canada had already secured their World Cup berth in Pool D with New Zealand and Wales – Italy and Tonga had yet to qualify – but Uruguay’s 34-23 defeat of Chile saw them join England, South Africa, Samoa and, ultimately, Georgia in Pool C.
The United States finished third on points difference to enter the repechage, although they only learned their opponent’s identity on March 15 when Spain, reinstated after Russia were expelled by the IRB over player eligibility, beat Tunisia 33-16 at a neutral venue in France.
A month later the Americans proved too strong for Spain with a 62-13 victory in Madrid which, followed by their 58-13 win in Fort Lauderdale, saw them clinch the final World Cup place on offer – in Pool B alongside France, Scotland, Fiji and Japan.