Nations Championship to open with six-Test Saturday

Image source, Getty Images

• Published21 minutes ago

The new Nations Championship - a biennial series pitting northern hemisphere superpowers against their southern counterparts - will begin with a six-Test Super Saturday round of fixtures on 4 July.

Fans will be able to watch nearly nine hours of Test rugby, with kick-offs staggered throughout the day.

New Zealand host France at Christchurch's newly opened One New Zealand Stadium at 08:10 BST in the competition's first fixture, with Australia v Ireland (11:10) and South Africa v England (16:40) among the opening round's other highlights.

Fiji, who are staging their home fixtures in the northern hemisphere to ease logistics and maximise revenue, take on Wales at Cardiff City Stadium at 14:10, with Argentina facing Scotland in Cordoba at 20:10 in the day's final match.

The concept of a fixture-packed single day of action is repeated in the following two rounds of action, on 11 and 18 July.

Time differences mean that the action will straddle two days for fans in New Zealand and Australia, however.

"The schedule of fixtures and kick-off times across the tournament highlights the commitment to give global fans access to an incredible set of clashes and structured in a way that means they need never miss a moment of the action," said Six Nations chief executive Tom Harrison.

The new tournament represents unprecedented collaboration between Six Nations and Sanzaar, who organise the southern hemisphere's Rugby Championship.

Traditionally, northern hemisphere sides would individually organise tours for July - usually centred on Test series in a single southern-hemisphere nation. Southern-hemisphere sides would then travel north in November on separate itineraries for the autumn internationals.

• Nations Championship to have north v south finale

  • Published17 November 2025

• Three countries, 25,000 miles - England's daunting summer itinerary

  • Published23 February

The new format is an attempt to bring an overarching narrative to the Test calendar, outside of years involving a men's Rugby World Cup or British and Irish Lions tour.

The Nations Championship involves every Six Nations team playing South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, Japan and Fiji once each, with fixtures spread over July and November.

The teams' results contribute to their position in a pool from their own hemisphere.

A finals weekend at Twickenham's Allianz Stadium follows, with teams facing off against their equivalent in the other hemisphere - for example, the sixth-placed southern hemisphere side takes on the sixth-placed northern hemisphere side, and so on.

Those play-offs will decide both the inaugural champions - the winner of a grand final between the sides top of their respective hemisphere pools - and, via a Ryder Cup-style points tally across the weekend, the first hemisphere trophy winners.

ITV Sport have secured the UK broadcast rights to the tournament.

Nations Championship fixtures

Saturday 4 July

New Zealand v France; 08:10 BST

Japan v Italy; 09:40 BST

Australia v Ireland; 11:10 BST

Fiji v Wales; 14:10 BST

South Africa v England; 16:40 BST

Argentina v Scotland; 20:10 BST

Saturday 11 July

New Zealand v Italy; 06:10 BST

Australia v France; 08:40 BST

Japan v Ireland; 11:10 BST

Fiji v England; 14:10 BST

South Africa v Scotland; 16:40 BST

Argentina v Wales; 20:10 BST

Saturday 18 July

New Zealand v Ireland; 08:10 BST

Japan v France; 09:40 BST

Australia v Italy; 11:10 BST

Fiji v Scotland; 14:10 BST

South Africa v Wales; 16:40 BST

Argentina v England; 20:10 BST

Friday 6 November

Ireland v Argentina; 20:10 GMT

Saturday 7 November

Italy v South Africa 11:40 GMT

Scotland v New Zealand; 14:10 GMT

Wales v Japan; 16:40 GMT

France v Fiji; 20:10 GMT

Sunday 8 November

England v Australia; 15:10 GMT

Friday 13 November

France v South Africa; 20:10 GMT

Saturday 14 November

Italy v Argentina; 11:40 GMT

Wales v New Zealand; 14:10 GMT

England v Japan; 16:40 GMT

Ireland v Fiji; 20:10 GMT

Sunday 15 November

Scotland v Australia; 15:10 GMT

Saturday 21 November

England v New Zealand; 14:10 GMT

Scotland v Japan; 14:10 GMT

Ireland v South Africa; 16:40 GMT

Italy v Fiji; 16:40 GMT

France v Argentina; 20:10 GMT

Wales v Australia; 20:10 GMT

Finals

Friday 27 November

Sixth-placed northern hemisphere side v Sixth-placed southern hemisphere side; 16:40 GMT

Third-placed northern hemisphere side v Sixth-placed southern hemisphere side; 20:10 GMT

Saturday 28 November

Fifth-placed northern hemisphere side v Fifth-placed southern hemisphere side; 13:10 GMT

Second-placed northern hemisphere side v Second-placed southern hemisphere side 16:40 GMT

Sunday 29 November

Fourth-placed northern hemisphere side v Fourth-placed southern hemisphere side; 13:10 GMT

First-placed northern hemisphere side v First-placed southern hemisphere side; 16:40 GMT

Related topics

• Rugby Union

More on this story

• Listen: Sport's Strangest Crimes - Bloodgate

• Listen to the latest Rugby Union Weekly podcast