Latest news with #NationsChampionship
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
England set to face Fiji, South Africa and Argentina in inaugural Nations Championship matches
England are set to begin their inaugural Nations Championship campaign in just over a year's time by playing Fiji – potentially in Europe – as well as away matches against the back-to-back world champions South Africa and Argentina, the Guardian understands. The 12-team competition, which will be held every two years and replaces traditional tours, is set to break new ground next year in the northern hemisphere summer and while the fixture list is yet to be announced, the Guardian has learned current proposals put England in line to face the Springboks in South Africa for the first time since 2018. A return to Argentina – where Steve Borthwick's side will face two Tests this summer – is also on the cards. Advertisement Related: Qatar Airways agrees £80m sponsorship deal for rugby union's Nations Championship As per tournament protocols, England's proposed match with Fiji would take place in either South Africa or Argentina but it is understood the Pacific Islanders would want the fixture to take place in Europe, mostly likely France where a substantial portion of their squad is based. Should that materialise, it is expected England would play Fiji first before travelling to South Africa and Argentina. The format of the competition sees the 12 teams split into two conferences - the Six Nations in one and the four Sanzaar countries and two others, expected to be Japan and Fiji, in another. The Sanzaar conference is effectively split into two blocks and the lowest ranked team in each play on neutral territory in an effort to minimise travel. Rather than play in either South Africa or Argentina, however, Fiji are hoping to host England in France while Twickenham has also been mooted as a possible venue. The Six Nations conference is also split into two blocks so two other nations are set to have the same fixtures as England next summer while the other three would face Australia, Japan and New Zealand. The Six Nations countries then host the three nations they have not yet played the following autumn, meaning England would welcome Australia, Japan and New Zealand to Twickenham in the autumn of 2026. Results from summer and autumn matches contributing to a final ranking. Advertisement On finals weekend, the top teams in each conference will meet each other, with second playing second, and so on, to determine the final rankings. The first grand final is set to be held at Twickenham while other stadiums in London are expected to be used for some of the other ranking matches. Previously the autumn Test window officially only allowed for nations to have access to their players for three weeks so as a trade-off, next year's Six Nations will be truncated to six weeks with one of the rest weeks removed. The Nations Championship is set to take place every two years, avoiding a clash with British & Irish Lions tours as well as the World Cup. The 2028 finals weekend is set to be held in the Middle East and the United States is the frontrunner to stage the 2030 edition, a year before hosting the World Cup. The Nations Championship will be run by the Six Nations and Sanzaar with World Rugby overseeing a tier two competition. Promotion to tier one is not due to happen until 2032 at the earliest, however. Negotiations over a lucrative broadcast deal that would encompass both summer and autumn fixtures are said to be at an advanced stage with TNT Sports considered the frontrunners after a successful first autumn campaign last year.
The Guardian
03-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
England set to face Fiji, South Africa and Argentina in inaugural Nations Championship matches
England are set to begin their inaugural Nations Championship campaign in just over a year's time by playing Fiji – potentially in Europe – as well as away matches against the back-to-back world champions South Africa and Argentina, the Guardian understands. The 12-team competition, which will be held every two years and replaces traditional tours, is set to break new ground next year in the northern hemisphere summer and while the fixture list is yet to be announced, the Guardian has learned current proposals put England in line to face the Springboks in South Africa for the first time since 2018. A return to Argentina – where Steve Borthwick's side will face two Tests this summer – is also on the cards. As per tournament protocols, England's proposed match with Fiji would take place in either South Africa or Argentina but it is understood the Pacific Islanders would want the fixture to take place in Europe, mostly likely France where a substantial portion of their squad is based. Should that materialise, it is expected England would play Fiji first before travelling to South Africa and Argentina. The format of the competition sees the 12 teams split into two conferences - the Six Nations in one and the four Sanzaar countries and two others, expected to be Japan and Fiji, in another. The Sanzaar conference is effectively split into two blocks and the lowest ranked team in each play on neutral territory in an effort to minimise travel. Rather than play in either South Africa or Argentina, however, Fiji are hoping to host England in France while Twickenham has also been mooted as a possible venue. The Six Nations conference is also split into two blocks so two other nations are set to have the same fixtures as England next summer while the other three would face Australia, Japan and New Zealand. The Six Nations countries then host the three nations they have not yet played the following autumn, meaning England would welcome Australia, Japan and New Zealand to Twickenham in the autumn of 2026. Results from summer and autumn matches contributing to a final ranking. On finals weekend, the top teams in each conference will meet each other, with second playing second, and so on, to determine the final rankings. The first grand final is set to be held at Twickenham while other stadiums in London are expected to be used for some of the other ranking matches. Previously the autumn Test window officially only allowed for nations to have access to their players for three weeks so as a trade-off, next year's Six Nations will be truncated to six weeks with one of the rest weeks removed. The Nations Championship is set to take place every two years, avoiding a clash with British & Irish Lions tours as well as the World Cup. The 2028 finals weekend is set to be held in the Middle East and the United States is the frontrunner to stage the 2030 edition, a year before hosting the World Cup. The Nations Championship will be run by the Six Nations and Sanzaar with World Rugby overseeing a tier two competition. Promotion to tier one is not due to happen until 2032 at the earliest, however. Negotiations over a lucrative broadcast deal that would encompass both summer and autumn fixtures are said to be at an advanced stage with TNT Sports considered the frontrunners after a successful first autumn campaign last year.
The Guardian
09-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Bonuses for Wallabies wins in Rugby Australia's new $240m TV broadcast deal
Rugby Australia has signed a five-year extension to its broadcast rights agreement with Nine Entertainment in a deal worth up to $240m. It runs from 2026-2030 and includes performance incentives linked to Wallabies wins, Nine-owned newspapers reported. '[It] represents a significant uplift on Rugby Australia's current broadcast agreement and follows a successful organisational reset in 2024,' RA said in a statement. Nine has broadcast Wallabies Tests and Super Rugby across its free-to-air platform and subscription streaming service Stan since 2020 when they picked up the rights for a discount during Covid-19 in a three-year deal worth about $100m. The media group signed a two-year extension in 2023. The new deal covers Wallabies and Wallaroos matches through to 2030, including Tests in the men's Nations Championship which will kick off next year. 'The future of Australian rugby is bright and our growth trajectory is strong,' RA chief executive Phil Waugh said. 'This deal from 2026 through 2030 will ensure Australian Rugby is well supported from the grassroots through to the international level for men and women, boys and girls.' The deal includes a range of incentives related to the performance of teams, including a potential multi-million dollar cash bonus if the underperforming Wallabies win more matches, Nine-owned newspaper Australian Financial Review reported. The Wallabies, ranked eighth in the world, won six out of 13 Tests in coach Joe Schmidt's first year in charge in 2024, after winning two out of nine under Eddie Jones in 2023. Sign up to The Breakdown The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed after newsletter promotion All Super Rugby Pacific matches will be taken behind Stan's paywall in a change from the current arrangement which has one match shown on free-to-air TV per round. The deal also includes matches in state club competitions, the Shute Shield and Hospital Cup, for die-hard fans.
The Guardian
01-04-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Hong Kong in frame to host Nations Championship finals and Lions matches
Hong Kong has emerged as a candidate to stage future Nations Championship finals at its new Kai Tak Sports Park and would be an ideal British & Irish Lions stopover, according to a senior World Rugby executive. The inaugural Nations Championship finals – the biennial playoffs among the world's leading international sides – is to be held in London in 2026 with Qatar lined up for 2028 but the Hong Kong stadium is an increasingly popular suggestion for subsequent editions. The stadium hosted its first international sporting event last weekend by staging the Hong Kong Sevens, relocating the famous tournament to the site of the former airport in Kowloon which now hosts the Cathay Pacific sponsored sports park. Transforming the site, which hosts the 50,000-seat stadium, a 10,000-capacity indoor arena and a track and field venue, cost £3bn. On Monday it was confirmed that in July, Tottenham will play Arsenal at Kai Tak stadium in the first north London derby staged outside the UK while Liverpool will also be in action against Milan. Al Baxter, a former Australia prop under Eddie Jones turned architect and one of the brains behind the stadium in Hong Kong, said it would be the 'perfect venue' and the city was 'really keen' to host the Nations Championship finals. Meanwhile the British & Irish Lions are looking for a warm-up match on the way to New Zealand in 2029. The Lions played in Hong Kong in 2013, facing off against the Barbarians, while Australia played New Zealand in two Bledisloe Cup fixtures in 2008 and 2010. The Lions match was blighted by the searing heat in Hong Kong in June but the Kai Tak stadium's retractable roof solves that issue. Asked if Hong Kong was an option for the Lions in the future, Alan Gilpin, the chief executive of World Rugby, said: 'Definitely. The beauty of this is when the Lions did come through here, it would have been 2013 on the way to Australia. It was so hot that no one could hold the ball, it was like a bar of soap. Now if you close the roof, it would be a brilliant spectacle.' The Kai Tak stadium may also offer a clue as to what the planned £663m refurbishment of Twickenham may look like. Populous has been signed by the Rugby Football Union for its stadium masterplan with work due to begin in 2027. Sign up to The Breakdown The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed after newsletter promotion In Hong Kong the decision was made to relocate from the old stadium in Causeway Bay whereas with Twickenham – unless the somewhat hollow sounding threat to relocate to Milton Keynes comes to fruition – redevelopment is the order of the day. Populous were the architects of the new Wembley stadium and can also list the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, the London 2012 stadium, the Sphere in Las Vegas, the Aviva and the Principality stadium. 'We've done hundreds of these sorts of buildings,' says Richard Breslin, Baxter's fellow director at Populous. 'There's not one single bowl, there's not one single venue which is the same. They all have to be totally different. Even in a big city like this or in London or any of the major cities, it's not one big amorphous blob. You've got little villages, so you're really trying to pick up on that and try to understand that and try and respect that as well.' Gerard Meagher's travel to Hong Kong was provided by Cathay Pacific, sponsor of the Hong Kong Sevens.
