Since this year, the traditional tours of July (in the South) and November (in Europe) have been replaced by a new competition, the Nations Championship. After the first leg, this summer, it's time for the return leg on the Old Continent, then the finals at Twickenham on the last weekend of November.
The principle
The test matches awarded no trophies, only points in the world ranking of nations (which defines the seeds for the World Cup). And, the nations of the two hemispheres did not all meet every year. For example, in 2025, the Blues played their three July matches only in New Zealand. From now on, the six nations of the Tournament and the six of the Sanzaar-Pacific (the four of the Rugby Championship - New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina and Australia -, plus two invited nations, Japan and Fiji) all compete once. For a classification in two conferences, that of the North and that of the South. At the end of the six days (three in the summer, three in the fall), a final phase will be played over three days in London. The 6th from the North against the 6th from the South, the 5th against the 5th and so on until the “super final”, the clash between the first two, on Sunday November 29 at Twickenham.
The calendar
The next three weekends will pit the teams who did not face each other last July against each other. So the Blues, like Ireland and Italy, will host Fiji in turn (this Saturday evening in Lyon), South Africa (on the 13th at the Stade de France) and Argentina (on the 21st, still at the Stade de France). The other series of matches will pit England, Scotland and Wales on one side, New Zealand, Australia and Japan on the other. Then, on November 27, 28 and 29, the finals will be played at Twickenham at an intense pace, in particular for the gardeners in charge of the pitch at the Rugby Temple (a spare pitch is already planned if necessary): two matches per day for three days...
In detail, the super weekend will begin on Friday November 27 with the match between the two 6ths, followed at 9:10 p.m. by the match between the two 3rds. On Saturday 28, match between 5th at 2:10 p.m., followed by the small final (2nd against 2nd) at 5:40 p.m. And finally, on Sunday November 29, the 4th graders will get the ball rolling (2:10 p.m.) before the grand final between the top performers from each conference, kicking off at 5:40 p.m.
The current ranking
The French XV leads the Northern Conference with 12 points (defeat with double bonus in New Zealand, bonus victories in Australia and Japan), ahead of Scotland (11 points), England and Ireland (10), Wales (5) and Italy (0). In the South, South Africa won its three matches with the offensive bonus this summer. That's 15 points. Like New Zealand. But the Springboks are ahead of the All Blacks on points difference (+81 against +51). Followed by Australia (8), Argentina (7), Japan (4) and Fiji (0).
If two nations finish tied on points after six matches, the greatest number of victories will take precedence, followed by the best difference in points, then the best difference between tries scored and conceded. Note that, for the Nations Championship, the bonus system has not changed: four tries registered for the offensive bonus; a defeat of 7 points or less for the defensive bonus.
The trophies
Two trophies will be awarded. The first will reward the team which won the North-South grand final. The second will go to the hemisphere which has accumulated the most points. During this three-day weekend, each success in the ranking matches will earn one point for its hemisphere. In the event of a tie at the end of 80 minutes, a ten-minute extension will be played. The first team to score points will be declared the winner. If neither team manages to score, the point at stake will be shared.
For the grand final between the first two, however, no draw possible. Two extensions of ten minutes each are planned, with the same “golden point” system. IF no points are scored during these twenty minutes, a penalty shootout against the posts will decide between the opponents.
The next edition
This nations championship will be contested every even numbered year, with odd numbers being reserved, alternately, for the World Cup and the British and Irish Lions tour. The finals weekend should be relocated to... Qatar in 2028.
From the 4th edition, in 2032, notable change. World Rugby is expected to introduce a promotion and relegation system between the two divisions. The second, the competition for which was named the Nations Cup, pits six teams from the Africa-Asia-Europe pool (Spain, Georgia, Hong Kong, Portugal, Romania, Zimbabwe) against six teams from the Americas-Pacific pool (Canada, Chile, United States, Samoa, Tonga, Uruguay).
Retransmission in France
This new, very attractive format convinced TF1 to acquire the broadcasting rights. In July, TF1 and TMC broadcast live 16 of the 18 matches. The group will once again widely open its antenna (TFX requested in addition) to broadcast the 24 meetings scheduled for this month of November.
