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The worst kept secret is finally official, with the course of The Rugby Championship plotted out until 2030 by SANZAAR this week. It leaves many questioning the purpose of continuing the Rugby Championship.
The announcement locks in the much-rumoured ‘Greatest Rivalry’ tour between South Africa and New Zealand in 2026. The All Blacks will travel to South Africa to face the Springboks and the four URC franchises.
It’s expected the Boks will then return the favour in 2030 with a similar tour of New Zealand. That means the Rugby Championship drops off the calendar in those years, leaving Australia and Argentina to make their own plans.
The Rugby Championship will still take place in 2027, 2028 and 2029, before disappearing again in 2030. SANZAAR also confirmed that a full tournament will be played in 2027 despite Australia hosting the Rugby World Cup that year.
Is the Rugby Championship Fit for Purpose?
Confused yet? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. New Zealand and South Africa have created a logistical mess by quietly scheduling their own tours, leaving the Rugby Championship and the SANZAAR alliance in jeopardy.
Before this year’s competition produced one of the best tournaments in recent memory, it seemed all parties were ready to walk away. It was only a last-minute backflip by Rugby Australia that kept the Rugby Championship alive. At least until 2029.
Amid inbound tours, the new Nations Championship, the Lions series to New Zealand and a home World Cup in Australia, the fixture list now reads like a plate-spinner’s desperate final act.
Despite drawing sellout crowds, producing historic rivalries, and giving the world’s best players a stage to perform, SANZAAR still looks north with envy, particularly South Africa who remain eager to join the Six Nations and cement their Northern Hemisphere ties.
So what’s next?
Do you bring Japan and Fiji into the mix for a true Pacific Championship?
Do you move the Rugby Championship to February, in the middle of the Southern Hemisphere summer?
Right now, it feels like every nation is fending for itself as the fight for revenue and viewership fractures old loyalties.
Where’s the Bledisloe Cup?
Conspicuously missing from the 2027–2029 schedule is the Bledisloe Cup. Once the crown jewel of the Rugby Championship, the All Blacks’ dominance has left both nations asking: what’s the point?
It could mean the Rugby Championship will take place but not the Bledisloe. A bizarre scenario for a fixture that has long defined trans-Tasman rugby. Organisers have promised that Bledisloe clashes will continue despite the All Blacks tour to South Africa.
Australia and New Zealand should consider moving the Bledisloe to ANZAC Day for a single, winner-takes-all clash. It would spark massive interest in both countries on a day that celebrates the bond between them. It would also even up the contest, when any team that is good enough on the day can win it.
The Future of a Global Calendar
World Rugby has gone quiet on the long-touted global calendar ever since it became a political pawn during election season.
In reality, “global calendar” has become shorthand for “hey Southern Hemisphere, can you rearrange everything to suit us up north?” Calls to move the Rugby Championship to February to align with the Six Nations ignore the fact that summer rugby in the Southern Hemisphere is brutal.
The official announcement leaves space for the Nations Championship in 2026, 2028 and 2030. This competition will run in even-numbered years between Lions tours and Rugby World Cups.
It will feature twelve teams split into two conferences:
A European Conference with the Six Nations teams.
A Rest of World Conference featuring the SANZAAR nations plus two invited teams — likely Fiji and Japan.
Each team will play six cross-conference games across July and November, culminating in a grand final between the top-ranked sides from each conference.
On paper, it sounds like progress. In practice, it feels like another way to force a global calendar, one that risks squeezing the Rugby Championship out of existence.