For the concurrent second tier competition organised by World Rugby, see 2026 World Rugby Nations Cup.

The 2026 Nations Championship is 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.

Participants

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] Julián Montoya
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]		 Harry Wilson
Perth Rectangular Stadium 20,500 Perth
Sydney Football Stadium 42,500 Sydney
 England Twickenham Stadium 82,000 London Steve Borthwick[7] Jamie George
 France Stade de France 81,338 Saint-Denis Fabien Galthié[8] Maxime Lucu
Groupama Stadium 59,186 Décines-Charpieu[N 3]
 Fiji Cardiff City Stadium 33,280 Cardiff Senirusi Seruvakula[9] Tevita Ikanivere
Hill Dickinson Stadium 52,769 Liverpool
Murrayfield Stadium 67,144 Edinburgh
 Ireland Aviva Stadium 51,700 Dublin Andy Farrell[10] Dan Sheehan
 Italy Juventus Stadium 41,689 Turin Gonzalo Quesada[11] Michele Lamaro
Stadio Luigi Ferraris 33,205 Genoa
Stadio Friuli 25,144 Udine
 Japan Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium 27,188 Tokyo Eddie Jones[12] Warner Dearns
Newcastle International Sports Centre 33,000 Newcastle
Japan National Stadium 67,750 Tokyo
 New Zealand Eden Park 50,000 Auckland Dave Rennie[13] Ardie Savea
Te Kaha 30,000 Christchurch
Wellington Regional Stadium 34,000 Wellington
 Scotland Murrayfield Stadium 67,144 Edinburgh Gregor Townsend[14] Sione Tuipulotu
 South Africa Ellis Park Stadium 62,567 Johannesburg Rassie Erasmus[15] Siya Kolisi
Kings Park Stadium 46,000 Durban
Loftus Versfeld Stadium 51,762 Pretoria
 Wales Millennium Stadium 73,931 Cardiff Steve Tandy[16] Dewi Lake

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

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.

Fiji home games

Fiji were required to reverse their home fixtures as their national stadium, the HFC Bank Stadium, does not meet competition requirements. Stadiums of the tournament are required to be 25,000+ seats which the HFC Bank Stadium is just under 10,000 short; in addition, 50% of these must be undercover. Travel logistics and commercial value was also considered for reversing the fixtures.[19] As a result, Fiji will play their home game against Scotland away at Murrayfield while Wales and England opted to host Fiji at Cardiff City F.C.'s Cardiff City Stadium and Everton F.C.'s Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium respectively.[20]

Championship division: Tables

The below shows the tables for the two conferences.

Fixtures

Southern Hemisphere Series

Southern Hemisphere teams, apart from Fiji, will host all the matches.[21][18] All three of Fiji's "home" matches are played in Great Britain.[18]

Round 1

4 July 2026New Zealand 34–32 FranceTe Kaha, Christchurch
4 July 2026Japan 27–10 ItalyChichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo
4 July 2026Australia 31–33 IrelandSydney Football Stadium, Sydney
4 July 2026Fiji 24–39 WalesCardiff City Stadium, Cardiff
4 July 2026South Africa 45–21 EnglandEllis Park Stadium, Johannesburg
4 July 2026Argentina 38–47 ScotlandEstadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Cordoba

Round 2

11 July 2026New Zealand v ItalyWellington Regional Stadium, Wellington
11 July 2026Australia v FranceLang Park, Brisbane
11 July 2026Japan v IrelandNewcastle International Sports Centre, Newcastle, Australia
11 July 2026Fiji v EnglandHill Dickinson Stadium, Liverpool
11 July 2026South Africa v ScotlandLoftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
11 July 2026Argentina v WalesEstadio San Juan del Bicentenario, San Juan

Round 3

18 July 2026New Zealand v IrelandEden Park, Auckland
18 July 2026Japan v FranceJapan National Stadium, Tokyo
18 July 2026Australia v ItalyPerth Rectangular Stadium, Perth
18 July 2026Fiji v ScotlandMurrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
18 July 2026South Africa v WalesKings Park Stadium, Durban
18 July 2026Argentina v EnglandEstadio Único Madre de Ciudades, Santiago del Estero

Northern Hemisphere Series

Northern Hemisphere teams will host all the matches.[18][21]

Round 4

6 November 2026Ireland v ArgentinaAviva Stadium, Dublin
7 November 2026Italy v South AfricaJuventus Stadium, Turin
7 November 2026Scotland v New ZealandMurrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
7 November 2026Wales v JapanMillennium Stadium, Cardiff
7 November 2026France v FijiGroupama Stadium, Lyon
8 November 2026England v AustraliaTwickenham Stadium, London

Round 5

13 November 2026France v South AfricaStade de France, Paris
14 November 2026Italy v ArgentinaStadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa
14 November 2026Wales v New ZealandMillennium Stadium, Cardiff
14 November 2026England v JapanTwickenham Stadium, London
14 November 2026Ireland v FijiAviva Stadium, Dublin
15 November 2026Scotland v AustraliaMurrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh

Round 6

21 November 2026England v New ZealandTwickenham Stadium, London
21 November 2026Scotland v JapanMurrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
21 November 2026Ireland v South AfricaAviva Stadium, Dublin
21 November 2026Italy v FijiStadio Friuli, Udine
21 November 2026Wales v AustraliaMillennium Stadium, Cardiff
21 November 2026France v ArgentinaStade de France, Paris

Finals

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.[22][21] All finals in 2026 are to be held at Twickenham Stadium in London, from 27 to 29 November.[21]

Eleventh place final

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

Ninth place final

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

Seventh place final

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

Fifth place final

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

Third place final

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

Nations Championship Final

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

See also

Notes

References

  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. ↑ https://www.fijivillage.com/news/Fiji-does-not-meet-the-requirement-of-hosting-Nations-Championship-games-fx84r5/
  20. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/articles/cedzv00vdpdo
  21. 1 2 3 4 "Hemispheres collide and rugby's future redefined with 2026 Nations Championship". Six Nations Rugby. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
  22. ↑ 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.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Nations_Championship