Former Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan will face his former charges at the 2011 Rugby World Cup after the United States beat Uruguay 27-6 on Saturday in their second leg qualifying match to win 54-28 on aggregate.

O'Sullivan - whose generally successful term with the Irish ended in rancour and a series of terrible results including a first round exit at the 2007 World Cup - had further reason to celebrate as it was also his 51st birthday.

The Eagles - regular competitors at the rugby showpiece without ever threatening a breakthrough - ran in four tries including a double from skipper Todd Clever.

The United States will play in Pool C in New Zealand, alongside former champions Australia, Six Nations Grand Slam champions Ireland, Italy and another European qualifier.

"I was very happy with our defence, it went very well today," said O'Sullivan, who is in his second term in charge of the USA after taking over in March from Scott Johnson.

"We scrummaged better and stopped their rolling maul, which were the two parts of the game that we needed to improve from last week.

"I feel happy with the way we finished. Uruguay made us work for it and it should be interesting to see how they fare in repechage."

Uruguay can still make the World Cup via the repechage.

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