2026 Nations Championship fixtures confirmed: England handed nightmare start

Fierce cross hemisphere rivalries will be put on the global stage when the Nations Championship debuts in July 2026. A landmark joint venture agreed between Six Nations Rugby and SANZAAR, to create the new biennial tournament, signals a watershed moment for rugby union, years in the making.

The Nations Championship creates a competitive tournament format, injecting jeopardy and context into every fixture, on the way to crowning a tournament Champion, and deciding the dominant Hemisphere in the sport that year.

Ratified by World Rugby Council in 2023, the introduction of the Nations Championship is part of a broader package of reform to the global rugby calendars, which have been shaped by members from across the whole sport: unions, federations, clubs, leagues, tournament organisers, players and their associations, and World Rugby.

The balance and alignment between domestic and international rugby as of 2026 gives clarity and certainty to support game wide growth, and the Nations Championship is a fundamental driver for this.

In the Nations Championship, twelve of the strongest international rugby nations in the world, packed with the best players in the sport, will form two groups of six teams.

The Six Nations teams represent the Northern Hemisphere, and will face the SANZAAR nations, plus invitational teams Japan and Fiji, who complete the line up representing the Southern Hemisphere.

Representing the Northern Hemisphere:

Representing the Southern Hemisphere:

New Zealand v France

Japan v Italy

South Africa v England

Australia v Ireland

Fiji v Wales

Argentina v Scotland

New Zealand v Italy

Japan v Ireland

South Africa v Scotland

Australia v France

Fiji v England

Argentina v Wales

Japan v France

Australia v Italy

South Africa v Wales

New Zealand v Ireland

Fiji v Scotland

Argentina v England

Ireland v Argentina

Scotland v New Zealand

France v Fiji

Italy v South Africa

Wales v Japan

England v Australia

France v South Africa

Wales v New Zealand

Ireland v Fiji

Italy v Argentina

England v Japan

Scotland v Australia

England v New Zealand

Ireland v South Africa

France v Argentina

Scotland v Japan

Italy v Fiji

Wales v Australia

Sixth-place North v Sixth-place South

Third-place North v Third-place South

Fifth-place North v Fifth-place South

Second-place North v Second-place South

Fourth-place North v Fourth-place South

First-place North v First-place South

There are two blocks of trans-equatorial fixtures, with three played in July in the southern hemisphere and another three played in November in the north.

After each team has played the other six from the opposing hemisphere once, they are ranked within their own hemisphere.

The finals weekend in London will start with the sixth-placed northern hemisphere side taking on their southern hemisphere equivalent, and culminate in the two group winners taking each other on for the title.

The results on the finals weekend will also contribute to a north v south overall score and title.

World Rugby will be launching a "second division" version of the tournament and, while there is no prospect of relegation or promotion between the two, it is hoped up-and-coming nations such as Georgia, Spain and Uruguay, ranked 11th, 14th and 15th respectively, and the likes of Samoa, Tonga and the United States will benefit from games against top-tier nations on years when the Nations Championship is not being staged.