A newly introduced global competition can ‘redefine’ the game, organizers say

Men’s international rugby was given a refresh this week with the launch of a new, biennial global competition that overhauls the sport’s long-held schedule to create a battle of the hemispheres away from the World Cup.

Starting in 2026, the Nations Championship will unify the international calendar, giving a wider context to test matches between teams from the northern and southern hemisphere in the existing July and November windows and setting up a “north vs. south” finals weekend. The first will be held at Twickenham, the home of English rugby, from Nov. 27-29.

The teams making up the Six Nations — England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and Italy — will each play three away games in July against those who are part of the Rugby Championship — Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa — as well as two invited countries, Fiji and Japan.

In November, those from the so-called “Southern Hemisphere group” will travel north for the remaining three rounds before the finale at the end of the month.

Each team will play all six rivals from the other hemisphere.

Tom Harrison, CEO of Six Nations Rugby, said the competition marks a “tectonic shift in the sport” and “has the power to redefine the future of rugby.”

“Rugby’s strongest nations have collaborated,” Harrison said, “with a clear vision to grow the game, by challenging traditional ways of operating to create a tournament structure with genuine global relevance, which will unlock the true value of the sport.”

The Nations Championship will take place in every year that does not feature a men’s Rugby World Cup or a British and Irish Lions tour.

It comes at a time when the existing rugby establishment is being challenged by a potential disruptor in R360.

Fixtures announced

The new competition was ratified by World Rugby in 2023 and only now has the inaugural schedule been announced.

They include South Africa, the world champion, hosting England, Scotland and Wales over successive weekends in July, when three-time World Cup winner New Zealand will be at home to France, Italy and Ireland.

Yet to be confirmed are venues. The BBC reported that the England “away” game against Fiji in the second round of July fixtures will take place in South Africa.

“This new competition changes the global game as we know it,” Rian Oberholzer, CEO of South Africa’s rugby federation, said, adding that “every test will now count for more than just bragging rights and world ranking points.”

The format

There will be points on offer — four for a win, two for a draw, zero for a loss, and bonus points for scoring four or more tries and losing by seven points or fewer — for each match over the six rounds. Each team will be ranked in their groups according to their results to determine the schedule on the finals weekend.

There, the teams in sixth place will meet in the first game, the teams in fifth place will be next, and so on until the first-ranked teams in each group play to be named the champion.

The winning hemisphere will also be crowned.

The current tournaments

The introduction of the Nations Championship doesn’t impact on the World Cup schedule or the Six Nations, while the Rugby Championship has already been affected by the decision by All Blacks and the Springboks to hold a test series in 2026 in South Africa and again in 2030 in New Zealand.

To accommodate that series and the Nations Championship next year, the Rugby Championship will not be played in 2026 or in 2030. Competition organizer SANZAAR has said it will be held in 2027 — albeit in a slimmer version in July-August ahead of the World Cup in Australia in September — and also in 2028 and 2029.

R360

The launch of the Nations Championship is an exciting development for rugby, especially amid the possible advent of R360.

That is a startup fronted by former England rugby international Mike Tindall which hopes to launch in September or October 2026 and will include six-to-eight men’s teams and four women’s teams, according to reports.

The rebel group is reportedly offering big money — through private investment from the Middle East, the United States and Britain — to players from both rugby union and rugby league to join the breakaway series that will play in cities around the world.

Exact details of the venture are unclear with little on-the-record comment from Tindall or any other key stakeholders.

Second tier

A second-tier competition, the Nations Cup, was also announced by World Rugby.

That will also feature 12 teams and be played across the same July and November windows in the same years.

Already qualified for the first competition are Canada, Chile, Georgia, Hong Kong, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Tonga, Uruguay, USA and Zimbabwe. The 12th team is set to be Belgium or Samoa.

The schedule for the Nations Cup hasn’t been announced yet.

There was no word about the possibility of promotion or relegation between the two competitions. STEVE DOUGLAS, Sports Writer, MDT/AP