How will the World Rugby Nations Championship actually work

The World Rugby Nations Championship is the bi-annual event planned to bring together the Six Nations members and Rugby Championship alongside two other invited teams.

Its inaugural season is slated for 2026 by which time World Rugby might hope for more enthusiastic support from its members.

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In addition to the Six Nations and Rugby Championship participating nations, the tournament will feature two more “invited” foreign unions, most likely Japan and Fiji. It will be a biannual, north-south event held in years other than World Cup and British & Irish Lions Tour.

The six nations that make up the “European Conference” and the Rugby Championship countries along with the invited nations will make up the “Rest of the World Conference.”

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During the July and November Test windows, the teams will only face the six countries in their rival conference.

At the conclusion of the second window, a final between the two top-finishing teams in each conference will be held, with the victor becoming the first World Rugby Nations Champions.

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Beginning in 2026, the competition will only be held once before the next World Cup.

It will then be repeated in 2028 and 2030.

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The final year, 2030, will decide who gets promoted and who gets relegated from what will essentially be a second division. Teams for this division will be selected from the Rugby Europe Championship, an expanded Pacific Nations Cup, and teams from South America, Africa, and Asia.

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A PUZZLE

In addition to figuring out a plan for how the extra four nations would qualify when the World Cup moves to 24 countries in 2027, World Rugby wants to wrap up those qualifying specifics before the mid-year Test window in 2024.

Critics of the new tournament feel that it will serve to entrench the divide between rugby’s have’s and it’s have nots.