Joe Schmidt will finish his Wallabies career with another trio of clashes against Italy, Ireland and France – and his successor, Les Kiss, will take on Eddie Jones twice in his first month – in a new-look Test calendar in 2026.
The Wallabies’ fixture list next year became clearer with confirmation the Nations Championship will commence in 2026.
As flagged by this masthead, the tournament will be played in two windows, in July and November, and contested by two groups of six nations, representing the northern and southern hemispheres.
The northern pool will comprise the Six Nations teams – England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, France and Italy – while the southern pool will be made up of Rugby Championship sides Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina, plus Fiji and Japan.
Teams will play each nation in the rival pool once – with three Tests in July and three in November – and based on points accrued, a grand final between the top-ranked sides from each pool will be played at the end of November.
The Wallabies will meet Ireland again in July next year.Credit: AP
Every team will play in a three-day finals weekend at Twickenham, against the side ranked the same as them in the other pool: first v first, second v second and so on. In a Ryder Cup-style team competition, the six finals will determine a champion hemisphere. Points will be earned for each final victory and a winning hemisphere will be crowned based on the best combined points tally.
Australia’s rivals in July next year will be Ireland, France and Italy. Venues are yet to be announced, but Sydney is likely to host the Irish Test on July 4 and the Wallabies-France clash on July 11 is likely to be in Brisbane, according to informed sources.
Those three European sides will also travel to play in New Zealand and Japan, while England, Wales and Scotland will travel to meet South Africa, Argentina and Fiji.