Scotland
Coach: Gregor Townsend
Captain: Sione Tuipulotu
World Ranking: 9
WC debut: v France on May 23rd, 1987
RM Block
Appearances: 10 (1987-2023)
Record: Played 46, Won 26, Drawn 1, Lost 19
Head-to-head with Ireland at World Cups: Played 3, Won 1 (1991, 24-15 at Murrayfield), Lost 2 (2019, 3-27 in Yokohama; 2023, 14-36 at Stade de France)
Best placing: Fourth (1991)
Lowdown: For the third World Cup in succession, Ireland will face their Celtic cousins at the pool stage, having won both games in Japan (2019) and France (2023), tournaments in which Gregor Townend’s side failed to reach the knock-out stages. The Scots do have a pool victory over Ireland, at Murrayfield in 1991.
It would be wrong to say that familiarity has bred contempt but there’s little love lost when Glasgow meet any of the Irish provinces in the URC, while it has also got a little bit chippy in recent times at Test level. Both sides will point to the fact that the World Cup is two years away and plenty can change in terms of current fortunes. They will face each other twice in the Six Nations before then, starting with the upcoming clash at the Aviva Stadium.
Uruguay
Coach: Rodolfo Ambrosio
Captain: Manuel Leindekar
Nickname: Los Teros
World Ranking: 14
WC debut: v Spain on October 2nd, 1999
Appearances: 5 (1999, 2003, 2015, 2019, 2023)
Record: Played 15, Won 3, Drawn 0, Lost 12
Best placing: Pool stage
Lowdown: Uruguay have qualified for a fourth consecutive World Cup as Sudaméricano 2025 champions. Head coach Rodolfo Ambrosio will head into a third World Cup and enjoys a rather unusual distinction. Born in Argentina, he moved to Italy in 1985 to play for CUS Roma, and as he had an Italian grandfather qualified to play for his adopted country. He played in the opening match of the 1987 World Cup against New Zealand. He was Chile’s attack coach at the 2023 World Cup in France and will now lead Uruguay to Australia in 2027.
The Ormaechea name is synonymous with Uruguay. Diego – he is the oldest player at 40 to line out in a World Cup match – who captained Los Teros in their first WC in 1999 before his sons Juan and Agustín also played in subsequent World Cups. They have never faced Ireland in a Test match, while they have not played Scotland since their maiden Rugby World Cup in 1999.
Portugal
Coach: Simon Mannix
Captain: Tomás Appleton
Nickname: Os Lobos
World Ranking: 20
WC debut: v Scotland on September 9th, 2007
Appearances: 2 (2007, 2023)
Record: Played 8, Won 1, Drawn 1, Lost 6
Best placing: Pool stage
Lowdown: Ireland, with Paul O’Connell as interim head coach, and assisted by Mike Prendergast and Cullie Tucker, racked up a record 106-7 victory over Portugal in Lisbon, that included most tries (16) and most conversions (12, Jack Crowley) as well as a highest points total and margin of victory. The three Irish debutants Hugh Gavin (two), Shayne Bolton (two) and Alex Kendellen scored tries.
Under the coaching baton of former French wing Patrice Lagisquet, they had a brilliant World Cup last time out, the second in their history, drawing with Georgia and beating Fiji. The current head coach is Simon Mannix, formerly a backs coach with Munster (2012-2014) and he is assisted by Andi Kyriacou, who also spent time at the Irish province as a forwards coach. Portugal lost to 2027 pool opponents Uruguay 26-8 earlier this year and Scotland in November 2024. Thirteen of the squad play their club rugby in France with Simão Bent, Vincent Pinto, Nicolas Martins and Tomás Appleton the pick of them.
