2026 is a landmark year for Rugby, with the debut of the Nations Championship.
Fierce cross hemisphere rivalries will be put on the global stage when the tournament kicks off later this year, with international rugby fixtures across the globe in July and November, on the way to the blockbuster Nations Championship Finals Weekend, in London.
View the full Nations Championship fixture schedule and register for Finals Weekend information
The new competitive tournament format injects jeopardy and more meaning into every fixture, where a winning team will be crowned tournament Champion, and the dominant Hemisphere in the sport that year decided.
To recap the tournament format, teams competing, how points will be won throughout the July and November fixtures, to dictate group standings and Finals Weekend head-to-heads, and how a winning team and hemisphere will be decided, a short explainer covers everything you need to know:
- The Nations Championship is a new international rugby tournament that transforms the existing July and November windows into a competitive cross hemisphere format every two years, outside a Rugby World Cup and Lions Tour year.
- It features 12 of the strongest nations in rugby with two groups of six teams. The Six Nations teams will form a European group representing the Northern Hemisphere, and take on the SANZAAR nations, plus Japan and Fiji, who form a group nominally representing the Southern Hemisphere.
- In July, the Northern Hemisphere group of teams will travel to play three rounds of fixtures, with every team playing a different rival from the opposing Hemisphere group.
- In November, the Southern Hemisphere group will travel north for the remaining three rounds.
- Points are on offer across the July and November windows, to then dictate the table standings per Hemisphere group and inform the schedule of fixtures for the Nations Championship Finals Weekend at Allianz Stadium in London. It's four points for a win, two for a draw, with bonus points for four tries or losing by seven points or less
- The Finals Weekend will see each side face off against their respective ranked team. The No.1 ranked team in the Northern Hemisphere group play the No.1 ranked team in the Southern Hemisphere group in the final to decide the inaugural Nations Championship winner at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham
Venues and KO times per Nations Championship fixture, across July and November, will be announced in due course.
^all dates local
Round One (Saturday July 4)
New Zealand v France
Australia v Ireland
Japan v Italy
Fiji v Wales
South Africa v England
Argentina v Scotland
Round Two (Saturday July 11)
New Zealand v Italy
Australia v France
Japan v Ireland
Fiji v England
South Africa v Scotland
Argentina v Wales
Round Three (Saturday July 18)
Japan v France
New Zealand v Ireland
Australia v Italy
Fiji v Scotland
South Africa v Wales
Argentina v England
Round Four (6-8 November)
Ireland v Argentina
Italy v South Africa
Scotland v New Zealand
Wales v Japan
France v Fiji
England v Australia
Round Five (13-15 November)
France v South Africa
Italy v Argentina
Wales v New Zealand
England v Japan
Ireland v Fiji
Scotland v Australia
Round Six (21 November)
England v New Zealand
Scotland v Japan
Ireland v South Africa
Italy v Fiji
France v Argentina
Wales v Australia
*All games double-headers
Friday 27 November
Sixth placed North v Sixth placed South
Third placed North v Third placed South
Saturday 28 November
Fifth placed North v Fifth placed South
Second placed North v Second placed South
Saturday 29 November
Fourth placed North v Fourth placed South
First placed North v First placed South
