2026 Nations Championship
| 2026 Nations Championship | |
|---|---|
| Error creating thumbnail: | |
| Number of teams | 12 |
| Date | 4 July – 29 November 2026 |
| Official website | |
| www | |
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]
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.
Format
[edit | edit source]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, three ties at home, three away.[3] A cumulative north v south trophy will also be contested in this edition.[4]
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 four or more tries
- 1 bonus point for losing by seven points or fewer
Championship division
[edit | edit source]Southern Hemisphere
[edit | edit source]| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | File:Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Final |
| 2 | Error creating thumbnail: Australia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | File:Flag of Fiji.svg Fiji | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | File:Flag of Japan.svg Japan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | File:Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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Northern Hemisphere
[edit | edit source]| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | File:Flag of England.svg England | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Final |
| 2 | File:Flag of France.svg France | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | File:IRFU flag.svg Ireland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | File:Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | File:Flag of Wales (1959–present).svg Wales | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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Southern Hemisphere Series
[edit | edit source]Southern Hemisphere teams will host all the matches.[5][4] All three of Fiji's home matches are played at a neutral venue outside of Fiji.[4]
Round 1
[edit | edit source]| 4 July 2026 19:10 NZST (UTC+12)) |
| New Zealand File:Flag of New Zealand.svg | v | File:Flag of France.svg France |
| Te Kaha, Christchurch |
| 4 July 2026 |
| South Africa File:Flag of South Africa.svg | v | File:Flag of England.svg England |
| Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg |
Round 2
[edit | edit source]| 11 July 2026 17:10 NZST (UTC+12)) |
| New Zealand File:Flag of New Zealand.svg | v | File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy |
| Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington |
| 11 July 2026 |
| South Africa File:Flag of South Africa.svg | v | File:Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland |
| Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria |
Round 3
[edit | edit source]| 18 July 2026 |
| South Africa File:Flag of South Africa.svg | v | File:Flag of Wales (1959–present).svg Wales |
| Kings Park Stadium, Durban |
Northern Hemisphere Series
[edit | edit source]Northern Hemisphere teams will host all the matches.[4][5]
Round 4
[edit | edit source]| 8 November 2026 15:10 GMT (UTC+0) |
| England File:Flag of England.svg | v | Error creating thumbnail: Australia |
| Twickenham Stadium, London |
Round 5
[edit | edit source]| 13/14/15 November 2026 |
| Wales File:Flag of Wales (1959–present).svg | v | File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand |
| 14 November 2026 16:40 GMT (UTC+0) |
| England File:Flag of England.svg | v | File:Flag of Japan.svg Japan |
| Twickenham Stadium, London |
Round 6
[edit | edit source]| 21 November 2026 14:10 GMT (UTC+0) |
| England File:Flag of England.svg | v | File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand |
| Twickenham Stadium, London |
Finals
[edit | edit source]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.[6][5] All finals in 2026 are to be held at Twickenham Stadium in London.[5]
Eleventh place final
[edit | edit source]Ninth place final
[edit | edit source]Seventh place final
[edit | edit source]Fifth place final
[edit | edit source]Third place final
[edit | edit source]Nations Championship Final
[edit | edit source]See also
[edit | edit source]Notes
[edit | edit source]References
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