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2026 Nations Championship

The 2026 Nations Championship will be the inaugural edition of the Nations Championship, an international rugby union competition featuring twelve men's teams. The teams are divided into two pools of six, and play a full round-robin of matches with the teams in the opposing pool across the mid year and end-of-year international windows, with the top teams in each pool advancing to a Nations Championship final in London.[1]

2026 Nations Championship
Number of teams12
Date4 July – 29 November 2026
Official website
www.nationschampionshiprugby.com
2028 →

On 17 November 2025, World Rugby confirmed a second competition that would take place concurrently called the World Rugby Nations Cup.[2]

Although promotion and relegation are intended for a future date, there will be no promotion or relegation in the 2026 edition between the Nations Championship and the Nations Cup.

Participants

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The following 12 nations are competing in the 2026 Nations Championship.[3][4]

Team Stadium Head coach Captain
Home stadium Capacity Location
 Argentina Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes 57,000 Cordoba Felipe Contepomi[5]
Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario 25,286 San Juan
Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades 30,000 Santiago del Estero
 Australia Lang Park 52,500 Brisbane Joe Schmidt[N 1]
Les Kiss[N 2]
Perth Rectangular Stadium 20,500 Perth
Sydney Football Stadium 42,500 Sydney
 England Twickenham Stadium 82,000 London Steve Borthwick[7]
 France Stade de France 81,338 Saint-Denis Fabien Galthié[8]
Groupama Stadium 59,186 Décines-Charpieu[N 3]
 Fiji Cardiff City Stadium 33,280 Cardiff Senirusi Seruvakula[9]
Hill Dickinson Stadium 52,769 Liverpool
Murrayfield Stadium 67,144 Edinburgh
 Ireland Aviva Stadium 51,700 Dublin Andy Farrell[10]
 Italy Juventus Stadium 41,689 Turin Gonzalo Quesada[11]
Stadio Luigi Ferraris 33,205 Genoa
Stadio Friuli 25,144 Udine
 Japan Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium 27,188 Tokyo Eddie Jones[12]
Newcastle International Sports Centre 33,000 Newcastle
Japan National Stadium 67,750 Tokyo
 New Zealand Eden Park 50,000 Auckland Dave Rennie[13]
Te Kaha 30,000 Christchurch
Wellington Regional Stadium 34,000 Wellington
 Scotland Murrayfield Stadium 67,144 Edinburgh Gregor Townsend[14]
 South Africa Ellis Park Stadium 62,567 Johannesburg Rassie Erasmus[15]
Kings Park Stadium 46,000 Durban
Loftus Versfeld Stadium 51,762 Pretoria
 Wales Millennium Stadium 73,931 Cardiff Steve Tandy[16]

Notes

  1. ↑ For the Australia home games (Southern Hemisphere Series).[6]
  2. ↑ From the Australia away games (Northern Hemisphere Series).[6]
  3. ↑ Billed as Lyon.

Format

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The Nations Championship consists of two geographic pools or conferences; the first, the European conference, consisting of the Six Nations; the second, the 'Rest of the World' conference, consisting of the Rugby Championship teams, plus Fiji and Japan. Over two international windows each team plays all the teams in the opposite pool once, with three games at home and three away.[17] A cumulative north v south trophy will also be contested in this edition.[18]

The standard World Rugby points system applies; teams earn:

  • 4 points for a win
  • 2 points for a draw
  • 0 points for a loss
  • 1 bonus point for scoring 4 or more tries
  • 1 bonus point for losing by fewer than 8 points.

Championship division: Tables

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Southern Hemisphere

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Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts Qualification
1  Argentina 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Final
2  Australia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  Fiji 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4  Japan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5  New Zealand 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6  South Africa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: 4 July 2026. Source: [citation needed]

Northern Hemisphere

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Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts Qualification
1  Scotland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Final
2  France 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  Ireland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4  Italy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5  England 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6  Wales 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: 4 July 2026. Source: [citation needed]

Fixtures

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Southern Hemisphere Series

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Southern Hemisphere teams, apart from Fiji will host all the matches.[19][18] All three of Fiji's "home" matches are played in Great Britain.[18]

Round 1

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Round 2

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Round 3

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Northern Hemisphere Series

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Northern Hemisphere teams will host all the matches.[18][19]

Round 4

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Round 5

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Round 6

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Finals

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After the six rounds, a finals series will be contested over three days with each team matched against its equivalently ranked team in the other pool to decide placements.[20][19] All finals in 2026 are to be held at Twickenham Stadium in London from, 27 to 29 November.[19]

Eleventh place final

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27 November 2026
16:40 GMT (UTC-0)
Northern 6vSouthern 6
Twickenham Stadium, London

Ninth place final

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28 November 2026
13:10 GMT (UTC-0)
Northern 5vSouthern 5
Twickenham Stadium, London

Seventh place final

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29 November 2026
13:10 GMT (UTC-0)
Northern 4vSouthern 4
Twickenham Stadium, London

Fifth place final

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27 November 2026
20:10 GMT (UTC-0)
Northern 3vSouthern 3
Twickenham Stadium, London

Third place final

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28 November 2026
16:40 GMT (UTC-0)
Northern 2vSouthern 2
Twickenham Stadium, London

Nations Championship Final

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29 November 2026
16:40 GMT (UTC-0)
Northern 1vSouthern 1
Twickenham Stadium, London

See also

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Notes

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References

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  1. ↑ "The Nations Championship is here!". Nations Championship Rugby. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  2. ↑ "World Rugby Nations Cup to launch in July 2026 to transform international calendar". World Rugby. 17 November 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  3. ↑ "Nations Championship 2026". World Rugby. Retrieved 15 April 2026.
  4. ↑ "Nations Championship 2026 & Finals Weekend". Allianz Stadium Twickenham. Retrieved 15 April 2026.
  5. ↑ "Los Pumas legend Contepomi takes over as Argentina rugby coach". News24. 19 December 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2026.
  6. 1 2 Williamson, Nathan (29 April 2025). "Joe Schmidt to stay as Wallabies coach until mid-2026, Les Kiss anointed successor". Rugby Australia. Retrieved 15 April 2026.
  7. ↑ "Steve Borthwick appointed England men's head coach". England Rugby. 19 December 2022. Retrieved 15 April 2026.
  8. ↑ "France coach Galthie contract extended after Six Nations triumph". France 24. 20 March 2022. Retrieved 15 April 2026.
  9. ↑ "Acting coach Seruvakula to lead Fiji in inaugural Nations Championship matches". SuperSport. 2 April 2026. Retrieved 15 April 2026.
  10. ↑ "Andy Farrell Signs Long-Term Contract Extension With IRFU". Irish Rugby. 14 December 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2026.
  11. ↑ "Quesada named as Italy coach for 2024 Guinness Six Nations". Six Nations Rugby. 16 June 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2026.
  12. ↑ "JRFU Announces Brave Blossom's New Head Coach". Japan Rugby Football Union. 13 December 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2026.
  13. ↑ "New Zealand Rugby appoints Dave Rennie as All Blacks Head Coach". NZ Rugby. 4 March 2026. Retrieved 15 April 2026.
  14. ↑ "Gregor Townsend's contract extended as Scotland head coach". Scottish Rugby. 3 September 2025. Retrieved 15 April 2026.
  15. ↑ "SA Rugby extends Erasmus' contract until 2031". SA Rugby. 5 December 2025. Retrieved 15 April 2026.
  16. ↑ "Wales hire Steve Tandy as head coach, to start in September". ESPN. 21 July 2025. Retrieved 15 April 2026.
  17. ↑ Dymock, Alan (24 October 2023). "World Rugby confirm Nations Championship details after vote". Rugby World. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  18. 1 2 3 4 Henson, Mike (17 November 2025). "Nations Championship to feature north v south hemisphere contest". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  19. 1 2 3 4 "Hemispheres collide and rugby's future redefined with 2026 Nations Championship". Six Nations Rugby. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  20. ↑ Hughes, Matt (17 October 2024). "First Nations Championship rugby finals to be hosted in London then Qatar". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
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