USA confirms Ireland and Wales Test dates

USA Rugby have finalised venues for this summer’s Test matches with Ireland and Wales.

Ireland will take on the United States, now coached by their former boss Eddie O’Sullivan, at the Buck Shaw Stadium in San Jose on Sunday, May 31, with Wales playing the Americans on Saturday, June 6 near Chicago at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois.

Ireland will kick off their North American tour further up the Pacific coast on May 23 with a Test match against Canada in Vancouver at the University of British Columbia Thunderbird Stadium.

It will be Ireland’s first visit to Canada since 2000 but the Welsh have been more recent visitors and will return to the York University Stadium in Toronto on May 30, the scene of a 60-3 defeat of the home side.

For both North American sides the games are warm-ups for Rugby World Cup 2011 qualifiers between the two nations.

The US host Canada in Charleston, South Carolina on July 4 with the return leg in Edmonton, Alberta, on July 11.

It marks the busiest summer schedule in US rugby history, according to USA Rugby’s chief executive Nigel Melville.

“One of our goals was to increase the number of international opponents in order to make our national teams more competitive,” Melville said.

“This schedule is a very good step forward in many respects. We are playing stiff competition against top international sides, which is really the only way to gauge our development.”