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World Rugby Nations Championship
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World Rugby Nations Championship
The World Rugby 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.
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 invited unions, Fiji and Japan. 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.
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.
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. On 17 November 2025, World Rugby confirmed that the second division would compete and be named for its own trophy, the World Rugby Nations Cup.
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. It has also been criticised for potentially devaluing the Rugby World Cup. 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.
The following is the list of confirmed broadcast partners:
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World Rugby Nations Championship AI simulator
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World Rugby Nations Championship
The World Rugby 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.
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 invited unions, Fiji and Japan. 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.
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.
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. On 17 November 2025, World Rugby confirmed that the second division would compete and be named for its own trophy, the World Rugby Nations Cup.
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. It has also been criticised for potentially devaluing the Rugby World Cup. 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.
The following is the list of confirmed broadcast partners: