The Springboks finally have the shape of their road map for next season, and the first signpost reads England in early July. The launch of the Nations Championship 2026 sets South Africa on a six-Test path across the July and November windows, with England, Scotland and Wales visiting in midyear, then Italy, France and Ireland waiting in Europe, all before a showpiece Finals Weekend in London.
What the new tournament changes
This is not another series of friendly Test weeks, it is a full-blooded competition created by SANZAAR and Six Nations Rugby and played every two years. The 12-team format brings together the SANZAAR nations South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina, plus invitational sides Japan and Fiji, against England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales from the north, with every match framed by points and standings that matter.
The Nations Championship restores clarity to the existing July and November windows, and it adds jeopardy to each weekend. It also arrives with debate, as its closed structure excludes recent fan favourites like Portugal and Georgia, and there are concerns about travel and carbon footprints in an already crowded calendar, issues that hover over this bold new chapter.
How the Springboks schedule shapes up
South Africa will begin the campaign at home, and the calendar could hardly be tastier. England are first in, then come Scotland and Wales, a northern trio that has not toured collectively in such concentrated fashion in years, with SA Rugby to confirm venues and kick-off times in due course.
- England in South Africa on 4 July,
- Scotland in South Africa on 11 July,
- Wales in South Africa on 18 July.
Once the winter window closes, the Boks will cross the equator in November to complete the northern sweep. They are set for Italy on the weekend of 6 to 8 November, France on the weekend of 13 to 15 November, and Ireland on 21 November, a run that will test depth, focus and adaptability across three demanding European venues.
The road to London and a Ryder Cup style climax
When the six rounds are done, the tournament moves to London for a first of its kind finale. The Finals Weekend, scheduled for 27 to 29 November 2026 at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham in London, will stage three days of double headers, delivering a compact, high-stakes finish that rewards consistency and nerve.
The top-ranked team from the southern group will face the best of the north to determine the inaugural champion. Every other match in that weekend also counts toward hemisphere points, a Ryder Cup style twist that will decide which half of the rugby world ends the year on top, a novel subplot that injects group pride into every minute.
How the points will shape tactics
The standings will be decided by a familiar yet consequential system, four points for a win, two for a draw and none for a loss, with bonus points for scoring four or more tries and for losing by seven points or fewer. It rewards ambition, because chasing a fourth try can be worth as much as a penalty goal, and it values resilience, because staying within a score can turn defeat into a lifeline. Expect coaches to manage the final quarter with the table in mind, knowing that every point can shift their Finals Weekend assignment.
What leaders are saying
“The Nations Championship will transform the existing international windows in July and November, which means every test will now count for more than just bragging rights and world ranking points,” said Rian Oberholzer, CEO of SA Rugby.
“Kicking off with tests against England, Scotland and Wales will provide the Boks with three tough tests and just the right preparation for Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry against the All Blacks, which follows in August,” Oberholzer added.
Brendan Morris, CEO of SANZAAR, called the tournament “an historic and exciting move” and welcomed Japan and Fiji into the southern group, noting that the calendar from 2026 to 2030 offers a pathway for success.
Tom Harrison, CEO of Six Nations Rugby, said the Nations Championship “has the power to redefine the future of rugby” and that the Finals Weekend would create an incredible spectacle and crown champions while growing the sport globally.
Ronan Dunne, Co-Chair of the Nations Championship, called its launch a transformational moment for the sport, while Mark Alexander, Co-Chair, said the tournament offers a truly global platform and confirms the ambition to drive game-wide growth.
The bigger picture and the debates
Change rarely arrives without friction, and this plan has its critics. Those who cheered Portugal and Georgia at the Rugby World Cup see a closed door, raising concerns about pathways for emergent nations that have earned world attention with daring play and disciplined growth.
There are also environmental and logistical questions around the increased volume of long-haul travel. Organizers counter with structure, predictability and broadcast clarity, and point to the parallel project led by World Rugby to create a second-division World Rugby Nations Cup with 12 Rugby World Cup qualified teams, a pipeline designed to widen opportunity over time.
Why July matters for the Boks
There is sporting logic in South Africa’s July trio. England in week one is a marker, a chance to test combinations under pressure against a traditional rival, then Scotland bring tactical variation and accuracy, and Wales add grit and aerial contest, a blend that will test every layer of the Bok plan.
That sequence is not isolated either, it serves as a runway. As Oberholzer noted, the northern trio is the right preparation for the All Blacks clash in August, South Africa’s Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, and a multi-match tour by New Zealand that follows across August and September gives the midyear action a fierce, rolling momentum.
There is history enriching the July dates too. Scotland last toured South Africa in 2014, England have not been since 2018, and Wales were last here in 2022, all details that add a sense of occasion as the Boks prepare to welcome old foes back to local grounds.
November in Europe and the test of consistency
Italy first, then France and Ireland, the European swing is designed to probe the Boks in very different ways. Italy’s steady rise demands focus, France demand tempo and invention in the collision and offload zones, and Ireland, recent standard-bearers in the north, will test decision making under relentless phase pressure.
For all of that, the November window is also about management. Rotation policies, travel recovery and set-piece cohesion will be as important as spark, and the margins are thin when bonus points are available. The teams that handle the rhythm of travel and the compression of big weeks will book the best seats for London.
Finals Weekend and what it promises
The concept of three consecutive days of elite rugby double headers is a novelty for the sport, and it aims to concentrate attention at the end of the year. The setting, Allianz Stadium, Twickenham in London, adds prestige, and it invites the neutral supporter to settle in for a three-day festival of high-value Test rugby, a celebration that is meant to become a fixture in the calendar.
There is an extra narrative thread too, with hemisphere points on the line in every Finals Weekend match. The pursuit of a global champion sits alongside the contest to determine which hemisphere holds the balance of power outside a Rugby World Cup, a small twist that adds identity and pride to every pairing.
What is confirmed, what comes next
Key details are already in place. The fixtures for South Africa’s July window, the November opponents and the Finals Weekend timeline have been confirmed, and the structure of the standings and bonus points is set to sharpen the edges of each contest.
Other specifics will follow. SA Rugby will announce venues and kick-off times for the July Tests, broadcast plans and commercial partners will be revealed, and ticket registration information for the London finale is open, with more detail to come as the tournament draws near.
The calendar implications are straightforward as well. There will be no Nations Championship in 2027 because it is a Rugby World Cup year, and in 2028 the schedule will flip, bringing France, Ireland and Italy to South Africa and sending the Boks to the United Kingdom for England, Scotland and Wales.
What success will demand from South Africa
Success in this format requires more than power. It asks for tactical flexibility, discipline at the breakdown, accuracy at the lineout and a backline willing to chase the fourth-try bonus when the moment is there, all wrapped in composure over two distinct windows separated by months, time zones and styles.
The Boks know what a world title feels like, as champions in 2019 and 2023, but this trophy asks different questions. It rewards the team that brings Test-match intensity in midwinter at home and sustains it in autumn on the road, then keeps enough in reserve for a white-hot final in London at the end of November.
The story ahead
If the vision behind this tournament holds, each Test will be a chapter, and they will add up to more than the sum of their parts. The stakes are visible and simple, win and collect points, score and be rewarded, defend with heart and you can still salvage something, all feeding into a defining weekend where champions are named and hemispheres claim pride.
For South Africa, that story starts with England on 4 July. It continues with old rivalries and fresh tests and, if they do what they believe they can, it ends under the lights at Twickenham in late November, with the nation in green and gold chasing a new title in a new era of international rugby.
