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World Rugby has finally released more details about its new Nations Championship, a competition designed to bring greater purpose to the July and November Test windows. The aim is to unite top rugby nations in a structured, high-stakes format that sits alongside the Six Nations and The Rugby Championship, while also boosting the commercial and competitive value of Test rugby. Set to launch in 2026, it will run in even-numbered years to avoid clashing with the Rugby World Cup and Lions tours.
However, since the announcement, many have already begun to question the value of this format, which locks the top-tier nations into a predictable, revolving schedule. While it gives developing rugby nations the opportunity to play regular and reliable fixtures, those nations are locked out from the playing the top nations. Promotion and relegation has been mooted for after 2030 but has not been officially confirmed. But despite the bold ambitions, questions remain over whether this format truly serves the global game or simply protects the interests of established unions.
World Rugby claims the new Nations Championship will “drive a deeper meaning and narrative to Test rugby across the July and November windows”. Here is how the competition will operate, based on the current plans.
There will be 12 teams in the top division. These were not chosen according to world rankings but simply by taking the Six Nations and SANZAAR countries and adding Fiji and Japan.
Within this division, the teams are split into two conferences:
• The European Conference, which is essentially the Six Nations teams.
• The Southern Conference, or “Rest of World”, which includes South Africa, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, Japan and Fiji.
Each team plays against all six teams in the opposite conference throughout the year, during July and November, with three matches at home and three away.
Points accumulate across the two windows to form standings for each conference. After six rounds, there will be a Finals Weekend to decide the champion, with the top-ranked northern hemisphere team and the top-ranked southern hemisphere team facing each other in the final.
The Finals Weekend is scheduled for 27–29 November in the inaugural edition at Twickenham in London.
World Rugby has stated that this format will be mirrored in Division 2, called the Nations Cup. The teams in this division for 2026 include Canada, Chile, Georgia, Hong Kong (China), Portugal, Romania, Spain, Tonga, Uruguay, USA, Zimbabwe and Samoa.
When the Nations Championship was first floated, it was billed as a way to give developing nations more meaningful games. It was seen as an opportunity for countries like Georgia, Chile and Samoa to get regular fixtures against traditional Tier 1 opposition. World Rugby has conveniently skirted this crucial objective, instead siloing the top nations and locking them into a repetitive schedule.
The Six Nations and SANZAAR unions have, in reality, taken control over the direction of the competition to preserve their standings and the integrity of their own tournaments.
In the first edition, there is no promotion or relegation between the Championship and the Cup, meaning nations like Georgia are locked out of the top division for the foreseeable future.
World Rugby has suggested that in future cycles, promotion and relegation will be introduced, but some reports claim that only Fiji and Japan are realistically at risk of dropping down a division.
Looking at the fixture lists for the Nations Championship, teams can expect a massive travel load. With the removal of three-Test tours to the southern hemisphere, northern teams will at points be required to travel to three different nations in as many weeks. It means more time in the air and less recovery between matches.
Conversely, visiting teams from the southern hemisphere may gain an advantage on their northern tours, with England, Wales, France and Italy all being much closer together and easier to manage from a fatigue standpoint.
World Rugby has previously touted “player welfare improvements” as a key directive, but many players and coaches have questioned whether the travel demands of this competition are realistic. This travel load may be a brdige to far unions in the Nations Cup division, who are already struggling to cover costs of test matches.
It also creates a substantial carbon footprint, and critics argue the structure ignores sustainability in favour of more revenue and TV-friendly matchups.
On paper, the Nations Championship promises structure, prestige and a more meaningful international calendar. In practice, its another closed system not disimilar to the Six Nations and the Rugby Championship, and until developing nations are given realistic pathways into the top tier the Nations Championship risks becoming another missed opportunity.
Rugby has long talked about growing the global game. The success of this competition will determine whether those ambitions are real.