The all-conquering Jaguars (pictured top, in stripes) has won both previous tournaments in 2009 and 2010, the 2011 World Cup causing last year's event to be cancelled.

Three other sides – Canada A, United States Select and Uruguay – will be vying to put the brakes on Jaguars and claim the 2012 spoils in a competition which features four teams from the top unions in both North and South America.

The showcase tournament serves as a key event in helping rugby's so-called smaller nations enhance their competitiveness on the world stage, particularly for the World Cup which will next be held in England in 2015.

The championship will be contested in a round-robin format over three matchdays with double-header ties taking place at Bear Mountain Stadium in Langford, British Columbia, on October 12, 16 and 20.
"Canada, USA, and Argentina are all priority unions for our High Performance investment programme and Uruguay also receives significant IRB financial and technical support as the second-highest ranked South American union and previous World Cup participant," said IRB head of development and performance, Mark Egan.

"Working in partnership with our regional associations we are investing £2.7 million ($4.3 million/€3.4 million) per year in our strategic investment competitions programme.

"It is a central element of the IRB's strategic aim of increasing global competitiveness and in particular the performance of tier-two teams at the rugby World Cup."

"Hosting international rugby in Canada is always an exciting opportunity and to be able to bring it to Rugby Canada's home of High Performance makes it that much more special," said Rugby Canada chief executive Graham Brown.

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