The biggest sides in the northern and southern hemispheres clash in a new international competition that continues in November. Here’s everything you need to know…
The Nations Championship brought together rugby giants from the Six Nations and Nations Championship – along with Fiji and Japan – in a new biennial competition.
With matches played (mostly) in the southern hemisphere in July, and in Europe in November, the new tournament is designed to bring a competitive edge to the traditional summer and autumn international competitions.
But how does the new competition work? How is the winner decided? Will there be promotion and relegation from the Nations Championship? And why were some of the July “southern hemisphere” games played in Cardiff, Liverpool and Edinburgh?
All these questions and more will be answered below in our Nations Championship explanation.
Nations Championship 2026: at a glance
– Match dates in the Southern Hemisphere: Saturday July 4-Saturday July 18, 2026
– Match dates in the Northern Hemisphere: Friday November 6-Saturday November 21, 2026
– Weekend Final Dates: Friday 27 November – Sunday 29 November 2026
– Participating teams: Argentina, Australia, England, Fiji, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, Wales
– Broadcasters: ITV (UK – Free), Virgin Media (Ireland – Free), TF1 (France – Free), Stan Sport (Australia), Sky Sport (New Zealand), SuperSport (South Africa), Sky Italia (Italy), Wowow (Japan)
1. What is the Nations Championship?
The Nations Championship is a two-year international tournament in which 12 teams participate – six from the Northern Hemisphere and six from the Southern Hemisphere. (For tournament purposes, Japan is placed in the south.)
The tournament was created by Six Nations Rugby and SANZAAR.
2. Which teams are competing?
Foreign Six Nations (England, France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy and Wales), four Rugby Championship teams (New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Argentina), plus two invitational teams in Japan and Fiji.
3. When will the games be played?
The Nations Championship will be held in years when it is not available Rugby World Cup or British and Irish lions tour. The competition is designed to “enhance the existing July and November international windows in the rugby calendar”.
The July fixtures were played over three weekends from Saturday 4th July to Saturday 18th July.
The games in November will be played over three weekends from Friday 6th November to Saturday 21st November.
This year’s competition will conclude with the finals weekend at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, which will run from Friday 27 November to Sunday 29 November.
The All Blacks have won all three of their games in the competition so far, against France, Italy and Ireland (Morgan Hancock/Nations Championship via Getty Images)
4. What is the format of the new competition?
Instead of traditional summer tours where teams visit one country, the Northern Hemisphere sides will face three different opponents. The Six Nations teams make up the ‘Europe’ group and the Southern Hemisphere sides are known as the ‘Rest of the World’. In July, European teams head south to play their three games, and in November the rest of the world makes a reciprocal visit to Europe.
In the July and November block, the team plays each side in its opposition group. For example, this summer England played away to South Africa, Fiji and Argentina. In the autumn, they will play at home against Australia, Japan and New Zealand.
5. Where can I watch the Nations Championship?
Fans in the UK, Ireland and France can watch the games for free:
- UK – ITV
- Ireland – Virgin Media
- France – TF1
Australia’s home games will also be available free-to-air on the Nine network.
Elsewhere the games will be behind a paywall:
- Australia – Stan Sport
- New Zealand – Sky Sport
- South Africa – SuperSport
- Italy – Sky Italia
- Japan – Wow
6. Why were some games held in the northern hemisphere in July?
Fiji sacrificed home advantage to participate in the championship. Suva’s rugby ground, the HFC Bank Stadium, does not meet the requirements of the competition and can only hold around 15,000 people.
When Scotland played there in the summer of 2025, losing 29-14, just 12,000 fans attended – well short of the 25,000 capacity required by the Nations Championship.
Instead, Fiji played Wales in Cardiff, not at the Principality Stadium, but at the Cardiff City Stadium, home of both Cardiff City FC and the Wales national football team. They then faced England at FC Everton’s new Hill Dickinson Stadium in the first rugby match played at the stadium, before hosting Scotland at Scottish Gas Murrayfield to round off their opening set of matches.
Fiji Rugby chairman John Sanday says playing home games in Great Britain was something Fiji could not turn down because of the “economic gains” it would bring.
“It’s a transformational opportunity for us,” he said. “Never before would we have been able to have this kind of revenue … which we could then invest in our facilities and high performance.”
Fiji’s decision to play their ‘home’ games in the UK backfired on the pitch, with defeats to Wales, England and Scotland (Ed Sykes/Getty Images)
7. How to win the new competition? Where will the final be?
The purpose of the tournament is to combine traditional independent summer and autumn tests. It is similar to what happened in football with the UEFA Nations League, which was created to add more meaning to previous friendlies.
After the final three rounds of the Nations Championship in November, the final weekend in London follows at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham from Friday 27 November to Sunday 29 November.
Each team will have a ‘final match’ against the team that finished in the same position as them in the respective group. For example, if Wales finish fifth in Group Europe/North, they will face the fifth-placed team in Group South.
The winners of the competition will be crowned on November 29, when the first-placed groups North and South meet in the grand final.
To purchase tickets for matches, fans should go through the usual channels of the host union. An adult ticket for all three days of Finals Weekend starts from £242. Alternatively, you can buy a ‘Support Your Team’ ticket, which ensures you’ll see your team in action regardless of the day they play, and covers both games played that day – prices start from £164.80.
Look Nations Championship website for the various options available.
Romain Ntamack scores for France during their 42-26 Nations Championship win over Australia (Getty)
8. Why didn’t Ireland travel to Japan to play Brave Blossoms?
Eagle-eyed fans may have noticed that Ireland faced Japan in Australia in July.
Andy Farrell’s men took on the Brave Blossoms at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle, NSW on Saturday 11th July. The match was the first neutral Test to be held in Australia since the pandemic. The last time the venue was on the international stage was in 2025 when the Wallabies beat Fiji ahead of the British & Irish Lions tour.
Ahead of the match, Japan coach Eddie Jones expressed his anger at Ireland’s game being held in Australia.
“You know why we’re playing Ireland in Newcastle? Ireland has all the power in World Rugby,” Jones said on the Rugby Unity podcast. “So we have to play our game at home, which should be in Tokyo, Australia to make sure Ireland don’t have to travel too much – let’s be honest.
“We just have to suck it up and that’s what happens when you’re not a major political force at the table.”
Ireland played the All Blacks in Zealand in last July’s Nations Championship.
Both Wales and Argentina have won one and lost two in their inaugural Nations Championship campaigns (Andres LARROVER / AFP via Getty Images)
9. What about other international teams?
Outside of the main championship, another 12 teams will compete in the second division of the Nations Cup, which is held simultaneously. This summer sees the first series of games across America.
The participating teams are divided into two groups and all 12 have qualified for the 2027 World Cup in Australia. Group A (Americas and Pacific) includes Canada, Chile, Samoa, Tonga, Uruguay and the USA. Group B (Europe, Africa and Asia) includes Georgia, Hong Kong, Portugal, Spain, Romania and Zimbabwe.
Each team plays three tests in each window, but unlike the Nations Championship, there is no finals day, so the team at the top of the table will get plaudits. If the teams are tied on points, the teams will be separated first by number of wins and then by points difference.
10. Will there be promotion and relegation between the Nations Championship and Nations Cup?
Not right now. World Rugby said all stakeholders would consider the potential introduction of this from the 2030 edition onwards.
11. Will the tests for the Nations Championship count in the world ranking?
Yes, just like the regular summer and fall tests, the games contribute to the rankings. South Africa is currently number one in the world, ahead of New Zealand, Ireland and France.
12. How can I follow the action of the Nations Championship?
Nations Championship 2026 Wall Map (World Rugby)
The world of rugby has created a handy wall chart to help you keep up to date with the Nations Championship as the latest rugby competition progresses. It lists all the games during the summer and autumn, including the final weekend which takes place at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, at the end of November.
The wall map can be downloaded as a PDF hereso you can print it out, stick it on the wall and fill in the results as they happen.
Download the digital edition of the rugby world directly to your tablet or subscribe to the print edition get magazine delivered to your door.
