The Six Nations teams will represent the Northern Hemisphere, and face the Sanzaar nations (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina), plus Japan and Fiji, representing the Southern Hemisphere.<\/p>\n
Each side will play six matches, taking on each of their hemisphere rivals from the opposing group before a Nations Championship Finals Weekend, to decide the tournament champion and winning hemisphere.<\/p>\n
London will host the inaugural Finals Weekend, with three days of double-headers at Twickenham between November 27-29, 2026.<\/p>\n
Cam Roigard celebrates scoring for the All Blacks against Ireland in Chicago. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n
The top-ranked team in the Northern Hemisphere group, and the top-ranked team representing the Southern Hemisphere will battle for the title.<\/p>\n
Teams will also be competing to earn points for their group to decide the winning hemisphere.<\/p>\n
Organisers said that the championship would inject \u201cjeopardy and context into every fixture\u201d.<\/p>\n
Tom Harrison, CEO of Six Nations Rugby, said: \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.<\/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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brendan Morris, CEO of Sanzaar, said that the establishment of the Nations Championship was a \u201chistoric and exciting move\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u2018More than bragging rights\u2019<\/p>\n
The first round of Nations Championship fixtures, on July 4, 2026, includes a series of blockbuster matches, with world champions South Africa hosting England, France travelling to New Zealand and Australia facing Ireland.<\/p>\n
Rian Oberholzer, CEO of SA Rugby, said that the championship would mean every Test counted \u201cfor more than just bragging rights and world ranking points\u201d.<\/p>\n
New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson said that the Nations Championship would bring an edge to the traditional Test windows and usher in a \u201cnew era for international rugby\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cFans want to know who the best team is between World Cups and the Nations Championship will deliver a champion.\u201d<\/p>\n
The championship will take place in years that do not feature the Rugby World Cup or tours by the British and Irish Lions.<\/p>\n
Australia will host the next World Cup in 2027, while the Lions are scheduled to tour New Zealand in 2029.<\/p>\n
The launch of the championship comes as part of World Rugby\u2019s push to better align the global calendar.<\/p>\n
Ronan Dunne, co-chair of the Nations Championship, said: \u201cThe Nations Championship, and its introduction into the international rugby calendar, is a transformational moment for the entire sport, and demonstrates the power of collaboration.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tournament will bring together the very best from across the game, elevating rugby on a global scale, but its power to alter the sport\u2019s trajectory and usher in a new era of sustained growth stands to be a hallmark of the Nations Championship.\u201d<\/p>\n
All Blacks 2026 Nations Championship matches<\/p>\n
Southern Series<\/p>\n
July 4 v France<\/p>\n
July 11 v Italy<\/p>\n
July 18 v Ireland<\/p>\n
Northern Series<\/p>\n
November 8 v Scotland<\/p>\n
November 15 v Wales<\/p>\n
November 22 v England<\/p>\n
Finals Weekend<\/p>\n
November 28-30 \u2013 Allianz Stadium, London<\/p>\n
\u2013 AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Six Nations teams will represent the Northern Hemisphere, and face the Sanzaar nations (South Africa, New Zealand,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":139895,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2246,5263,806,8136,9837,18239,2837,38984,1221,6489,1437,12022,8454,8019,1224,14571,1739,17154,111,139,1536,69,10538,54547,12860,6327,6102,213,764,1361,8229,61,1533,379],"class_list":["post-139894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-2246","tag-all","tag-as","tag-blacks","tag-calendar","tag-championship","tag-during","tag-fixtures","tag-france","tag-games","tag-global","tag-host","tag-including","tag-ireland","tag-italy","tag-kick","tag-launches","tag-nations","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-next","tag-nz","tag-play","tag-reshape","tag-revealed","tag-rugby","tag-side","tag-sports","tag-tests","tag-that","tag-they","tag-to","tag-will","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}