World Rugby Nations Championship

Last updated

Nations Championship
Sport Rugby union
Founded2023;2 years ago (2023)
First season2026;1 year's time (2026)
Divisions2
No. of teams
  • 12 (Championship)
  • 12 (Second Division)
Broadcasters List of broadcasters

The Nations Championship is a planned biennial international men's rugby union competition, which is scheduled to take place in the mid-year and end-of-year international windows in even-numbered years, with the inaugural edition beginning in 2026. [1]

Contents

Format

The competition will consist of twelve teams, involving the current Six Nations (England, France, Italy, Ireland, Scotland and Wales) and SANZAAR (Argentina, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand) unions, in addition to two unknown invited unions (widely reported to be Fiji and Japan, coincidentally the remaining two automatic qualifiers by 2023 pool standings for the 2027 Men's Rugby World Cup). [2] The competition will be held in even-numbered years, as these are the years when there is no British & Irish Lions tour or Rugby World Cup, both of which are of prestige and commercial importance to the sport. [3]

The format of the competition will include a "European Conference", consisting of the Six Nations unions, and a "SANZAAR and Pacific Conference" comprising the SANZAAR nations, in addition to the two invited unions (Japan and Fiji). Each team will play the six nations in their opposing conference across the July and November test windows, with a grand final to be played at the end of the November window between the first-placed teams in each conference to decide the tournament champion. [4]

A second division, run by World Rugby, will take place concurrently and is due to consist of twelve further teams, with promotion and relegation between the divisions commencing from the start of the third edition in 2030. In December 2024 it was reported that the second division would initially consist of the 12 teams that successfully qualify for the 2027 Men's Rugby World Cup through the qualification process, meaning all the qualified teams for the 2027 tournament will take part in the inaugural edition. [5]

Teams

Championship Division

Second Division

Criticism

The creation of the Nations Championship has received criticism for 'ring-fencing' smaller nations outside elite competition and narrowing their opportunities to play against top nations. [7] It has also been criticised for potentially devaluing the Rugby World Cup. [8] World Rugby's Chief Executive Alan Gilpin has defended against this criticism by stating “the suggestions that this just makes the rich richer are misplaced. This creates a better landscape” whilst adding that there will be “50% guaranteed more crossover fixtures” in non-tournament years. [9]

Broadcasting rights

The following is the list of confirmed broadcast partners:

TerritoryRights holderRef.
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia [10] [11]
Flag of France.svg France TF1 [12] [13]
Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Sky Sport (Sky Sport Now) [14] [15]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Although located in North America and affiliated with the Rugby Americas North (RAN) confederation, Canada and the United States both qualified for the 2027 Rugby World Cup in a cross-confederation tournament made up of team(s) from Oceania, Asia and North America.
  2. ↑ All Australia matches played on Australian soil.

References

  1. ↑ "Historic rugby calendar reform to supercharge reach and competitiveness" (Press release). World Rugby. 23 October 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  2. ↑ Bendon, Philip (24 October 2023). "World Rugby Approves New Global Rugby Tournament From 2026". Flo Rugby. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  3. ↑ "The Rugby Nations Championship: Everything You Need To Know". keithprowse.co.uk. 11 December 2023.
  4. ↑ Bruce, Sam (25 October 2023). "FAQs: Explaining rugby's Nations Championship and a 24-team World Cup". ESPN. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  5. ↑ Kelleher, Will (12 December 2024). "England risk treacherous World Cup draw if results don't improve next year" . The Times . Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  6. ↑ "Qualification process confirmed for expanded Men's Rugby World Cup 2027 in Australia". world.rugby. World Rugby. 13 August 2024.
  7. ↑ Coles, Ben (25 October 2023). "New Nations Championship 'a slap in the face' to smaller rugby nations". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  8. ↑ Jones, Stephen (28 October 2023). "Nations Cup is a disgraceful swindle designed to protect elite" . The Times . Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  9. ↑ Kitson, Robert (24 October 2023). "World Rugby's global calendar overhaul labelled 'stitch-up' by smaller nations". The Guardian . Guardian Media Group . Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  10. ↑ Payten, Iain (8 April 2025). "Rugby Australia secures $65m uplift in new broadcast deal with Nine". The Sydney Morning Herald. Nine Entertainment. Archived from the original on 8 April 2025.
  11. ↑ Williamson, Nathan (12 May 2025). "Nine Network, Stan confirmed as host broadcasters for Rugby World Cups until 2029". Rugby.com.au .
  12. ↑ "Rugby : TF1 diffusera le Mondial 2027 et les éditions 2026 et 2028 de la Coupe des Nations" [Rugby: TF1 to broadcast the 2027 World Cup and the 2026 and 2028 editions of the Nations Cup]. Le Parisien (in French). LVMH. 10 October 2025. Archived from the original on 10 November 2025.
  13. ↑ Sim, Josh (14 October 2025). "TF1 secures 2027 Rugby World Cup and Nations Championship rights". SportsPro .
  14. ↑ "NZ Rugby and Sky seal new broadcast deal with TVNZ". Radio New Zealand . 22 August 2025. Archived from the original on 23 August 2025.
  15. ↑ "Sky buys All Blacks, Super Rugby TV rights until 2030; TVNZ scoops NPC games". The New Zealand Herald . New Zealand Media and Entertainment. 22 August 2025. Archived from the original on 31 August 2025.
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