It has been labelled a “tectonic shift”, set to shake up the world of rugby union, but what is the Nations Championship, what have been the results so far, and what is the schedule this November?
What is it?
The Nations Championship is World Rugby’s new 12-team tournament that pits the giants of northern and southern hemisphere rugby against each other on a more consistent basis.
The tournament is designed to align northern and southern hemisphere rugby calendars, guaranteeing high-profile fixtures to add more structure and meaning to the existing international windows between World Cups.
Who’s involved?
The Six Nations teams – England, France, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Italy – will take on the four Rugby Championship sides – South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina (SANZAAR) – with Fiji and Japan also representing the southern hemisphere.
Twickenham will host the inaugural Nations Championship Finals Weekend at Allianz Stadium
How does it work?
Each team will play six matches: three in July in the southern hemisphere and three in November in the northern hemisphere.
Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium will then host Finals Weekend from November 27 to 29, where the inaugural champions will be crowned.
Rankings for Finals Weekend will be determined by results from the opening six matches, with each northern hemisphere team playing an additional fixture against the correspondingly ranked southern side.
2026 Nations Championship November fixtures and July results
Friday November 6
Ireland vs Argentina (8.10pm)
Saturday November 7
Italy vs South Africa (11.40am)
Scotland vs New Zealand (2.10pm)
Wales vs Japan (4.40pm)
France vs Fiji (8.10pm)
Sunday November 8
England vs Australia (3.10pm)
Friday November 13
France vs South Africa (8.10pm)
Saturday November 14
Italy vs Argentina (11.40am)
Wales vs New Zealand (2.10pm)
England vs Japan (4.40pm)
Ireland vs Fiji (8.10pm)
Sunday November 15
Scotland vs Australia (3.10pm)
Saturday November 21
England vs New Zealand (2.10pm)
Scotland vs Japan (2.10pm)
Ireland vs South Africa (4.40pm)
Italy vs Fiji (4.40pm)
France vs Argentina (8.10pm)
Wales vs Australia (8.10pm)
Finals Weekend (Twickenham)
November 27
Sixth-place North vs Sixth-place South, Third-place North vs Third-place South
November 28
Fifth-place North vs Fifth-place South, Second-place North vs Second-place South
November 29
Fourth-place North vs Fourth-place South, First-place North vs First-place South
July 4
New Zealand 34-32 France
Japan 27-10 Italy
South Africa 45-21 England
Australia 31-33 Ireland
Fiji 24-39 Wales
Argentina 38-47 Scotland
July 11
New Zealand 47-17 Italy
Japan 20-36 Ireland
South Africa 42-28 Scotland
Australia 26-42 France
Fiji 8-73 England
Argentina 35-21 Wales
July 18
Japan 15-42 France
Australia 57-10 Italy
South Africa 43-0 Wales
New Zealand 40-21 Ireland
Fiji 17-33 Scotland
Argentina 24-31 England