instead going to tour South Africa<\/a> in August and September next year for four Tests and four matches against franchise teams in a resurrection of the traditional tour schedule long since abandoned.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Siya-Kolisi-9vwi630h.jpeg\")
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open image in gallery<\/p>\n
The Springboks and All Blacks are also facing off in a four-match series next year (Getty Images)<\/p>\n
New Zealand and South Africa are marketing their clash as \u2018Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry\u2019 and will look to continue it every four years with the Springboks going to New Zealand in 2030.<\/p>\n
World Rugby is also creating a second division tournament called the Nations Cup to feature the 12 teams who have qualified for the 2027 Rugby World Cup and are not competing in the Nations Championship. They are Canada, Chile, Georgia, Hong Kong, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Tonga, Uruguay, USA, Zimbabwe and either Belgium or Samoa.<\/p>\n
There are unconfirmed reports that there could be promotion and relegation between the two new competitions from 2030 onwards.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Nations Championship has the power to redefine the future of rugby, and the partnership between Six Nations Rugby and SANZAAR signals a tectonic shift in the sport,\u201d said Six Nations chief executive Tom Harrison.<\/p>\n
\u201cRugby\u2019s strongest nations have collaborated with a clear vision to grow the game, by challenging traditional ways of operating to create a tournament structure with genuine global relevance, which will unlock the true value of the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe world\u2019s biggest and best championships are defined by intense sporting drama, and the Nations Championship will stand alongside these. The Finals Weekend will add a totally new dimension for fans, and promises to create an incredible spectacle, crown champions, and act as a catalyst to grow rugby\u2019s reach, globally.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy bringing together the best teams and players in the sport and injecting another layer to the fierce cross-hemisphere rivalries, the Nations Championship will take international rugby to new heights.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Australia](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Sam-Prendergast.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
open image in gallery<\/p>\n
Australia and Ireland will meet on the opening weekend of the 2026 Nations Championship (Getty Images)<\/p>\n
2026 Nations Championship fixtures<\/p>\n
Southern Series<\/p>\n
July 4-5: Argentina v Scotland, Australia v Ireland, Fiji v Wales, Japan v Italy, New Zealand v France, South Africa v England<\/p>\n
July 11-12: Argentina v Wales, Australia v France, Fiji v England, Japan v Ireland, New Zealand v Italy, South Africa v Scotland<\/p>\n
July 18-19: Argentina v England, Australia v Italy, Fiji v Scotland, Japan v France, New Zealand v Ireland, South Africa v Wales<\/p>\n
Northern Series<\/p>\n
November 7-8: England v Australia, France v Fiji, Ireland v Argentina, Italy v South Africa, Scotland v New Zealand, Wales v Japan<\/p>\n
November 14-15: England v Japan, France v South Africa, Ireland v Fiji, Italy v Argentina, Scotland v Australia, Wales v New Zealand<\/p>\n
November 21-22: England v New Zealand, France v Argentina, Ireland v South Africa, Italy v Fiji, Scotland v Japan, Wales v Australia<\/p>\n
Finals Weekend (at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham)<\/p>\n
November 27: Sixth-place North v Sixth-place South, Third-place North v Third-place South<\/p>\n
November 28: Fifth-place North v Fifth-place South, Second-place North v Second-place South<\/p>\n
November 29: Fourth-place North v Fourth-place South, First-place North v First-place South<\/p>\n
Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-290365","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"England](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Fraser-Dingwall-uywzquup.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n