Championnat des nations rugby 2026 calendar, standings and trophies, Digi Mart USA News: This year the traditional July tours in the Southern Hemisphere and November tours in Europe have been replaced by a new competition, the Championnat des nations. After the first phase this summer, the return phase takes place in Europe, followed by finals at Twickenham on the last weekend of November.
Previously, test matches awarded no trophies, only points in the world rankings that determine seeding for the Rugby World Cup, and teams from the two hemispheres did not all meet each year. In 2025, for example, France played its three July matches only in New Zealand.
Now, the six nations of the Six Nations and the six Sanzaar-Pacific teams, including the four Rugby Championship nations and invited Japan and Fiji, each play once, with standings split into Northern and Southern conferences.
After six rounds, three in summer and three in autumn, a three-day final phase will be held in London. The sixth-placed Northern team meets the sixth-placed Southern team, fifth meets fifth, and so on up to the “super final” between the top two teams on Sunday, November 29 at Twickenham.
The next three weekends pit teams that did not meet in July against each other. France, like Ireland and Italy, will host Fiji on Saturday evening in Lyon, South Africa on November 13 at the Stade de France, and Argentina on November 21, also at the Stade de France.
The other series pairs England, Scotland and Wales against New Zealand, Australia and Japan.
The finals, from November 27 to 29, will be held at Twickenham at an intense pace, with two matches a day over three days. The super weekend begins Friday, November 27 with the match between the two sixth-placed teams, followed at 9:10 p.m.
by the match between the two third-placed teams. On Saturday, November 28, the fifth-place match is at 2:10 p.m., followed by the third-place playoff (second versus second) at 5:40 p.m.
On Sunday, November 29, the fourth-place match opens at 2:10 p.m., before the grand final between the top team of each conference at 5:40 p.m.
France currently leads the Northern conference with 12 points after a defeat with a double bonus in New Zealand and bonus-point wins in Australia and Japan, ahead of Scotland (11 points), England and Ireland (10 each), Wales (5) and Italy (0). In the Southern conference, South Africa won all three summer matches with offensive bonus points for 15 points, level with New Zealand, but the Springboks lead on points difference (+81 versus +51).
Australia has 8 points, Argentina 7, Japan 4 and Fiji 0.
If two nations finish level on points after six matches, the team with more wins takes precedence, followed by the better points difference, then the better difference between tries scored and conceded. The bonus system is unchanged: four tries earns the offensive bonus, and a loss by seven points or fewer earns the defensive bonus.
Two trophies will be awarded. The first goes to the team that wins the Northern-Southern grand final.
The second goes to the hemisphere that accumulates the most points. During the three-day weekend, each win in the placement matches gives one point to its hemisphere.
If teams are tied after 80 minutes, a ten-minute extra period is played, and the first team to score wins; if no team scores, the point is shared.
There is no draw possible in the grand final. Two ten-minute extra periods are played with the same “golden point” system, and if no point is scored in those twenty minutes, a place-kick shootout decides the winner.
The Championnat des nations will be held in every even-numbered year, with odd years reserved alternately for the Rugby World Cup and British and Irish Lions tours. The final weekend is expected to be relocated to Qatar in 2028.
From the fourth edition in 2032, World Rugby is expected to introduce promotion and relegation between the two divisions. The second tier, called the Coupe des nations, pits six teams from the Africa-Asia-Europe pool (Spain, Georgia, Hong Kong, Portugal, Romania, Zimbabwe) against six from the Americas-Pacific pool (Canada, Chile, United States, Samoa, Tonga, Uruguay).
TF1 acquired broadcast rights for France, attracted by the format. In July, TF1 and TMC broadcast 16 of the 18 matches live, and the group will again open its schedule widely, with TFX also involved, to broadcast the 24 matches scheduled for November.
