Men’s international rugby was given a refresh Monday with the launch of a new, biennial global competition that overhauls the sport’s long-held schedule to create a battle of the hemispheres away from the World Cup.
Starting in 2026, the Nations Championship will unify the international calendar, giving a wider context to test matches between teams from the northern and southern hemisphere in the existing July and November windows and setting up a “north vs. south” finals weekend. The first will be held at Twickenham, the home of English rugby, from Nov. 27-29.
The teams making up the Six Nations — England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and Italy — will each play three away games in July against those who are part of the Rugby Championship — Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa — as well as two invited countries, Fiji and Japan.
In November, those from the so-called “Southern Hemisphere group” will travel north for the remaining three rounds before the finale at the end of the month.
Each team will play all six rivals from the other hemisphere.
Tom Harrison, CEO of Six Nations Rugby, said the competition marks a “tectonic shift in the sport” and “has the power to redefine the future of rugby.”
“Rugby’s strongest nations have collaborated,” Harrison said, “with a clear vision to grow the game, by challenging traditional ways of operating to create a tournament structure with genuine global relevance, which will unlock the true value of the sport.”
The Nations Championship will take place in every year that does not feature a men’s Rugby World Cup or a British and Irish Lions tour.
It comes at a time when the existing rugby establishment is being challenged by a potential disruptor in R360.
The new competition was ratified by World Rugby in 2023 and only now has the inaugural schedule been announced.
They include South Africa, the world champion, hosting England, Scotland and Wales over successive weekends in July, when three-time World Cup winner New Zealand will be at home to France, Italy and Ireland.
Yet to be confirmed are venues. The BBC reported that the England “away” game against Fiji in the second round of July fixtures will take place in South Africa.
“This new competition changes the global game as we know it,” Rian Oberholzer, CEO of South Africa's rugby federation, said, adding that “every test will now count for more than just bragging rights and world ranking points.”
There will be points on offer — four for a win, two for a draw, zero for a loss, and bonus points for scoring four or more tries and losing by seven points or fewer — for each match over the six rounds. Each team will be ranked in their groups according to their results to determine the schedule on the finals weekend.
There, the teams in sixth place will meet in the first game, the teams in fifth place will be next, and so on until the first-ranked teams in each group play to be named the champion.
The winning hemisphere will also be crowned.
The introduction of the Nations Championship doesn't impact on the World Cup schedule or the Six Nations, while the Rugby Championship has already been affected by the decision by All Blacks and the Springboks to hold a test series in 2026 in South Africa and again in 2030 in New Zealand.
To accommodate that series and the Nations Championship next year, the Rugby Championship will not be played in 2026 or in 2030. Competition organizer SANZAAR has said it will be held in 2027 — albeit in a slimmer version in July-August ahead of the World Cup in Australia in September — and also in 2028 and 2029.
The launch of the Nations Championship is an exciting development for rugby, especially amid the possible advent of R360.
That is a startup fronted by former England rugby international Mike Tindall which hopes to launch in September or October 2026 and will include six-to-eight men’s teams and four women’s teams, according to reports.
The rebel group is reportedly offering big money — through private investment from the Middle East, the United States and Britain — to players from both rugby union and rugby league to join the breakaway series that will play in cities around the world.
Exact details of the venture are unclear with little on-the-record comment from Tindall or any other key stakeholders.
A second-tier competition, the Nations Cup, was also announced by World Rugby.
That will also feature 12 teams and be played across the same July and November windows in the same years.
Already qualified for the first competition are Canada, Chile, Georgia, Hong Kong, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Tonga, Uruguay, USA and Zimbabwe. The 12th team is set to be Belgium or Samoa.
The schedule for the Nations Cup hasn't been announced yet.
There was no word about the possibility of promotion or relegation between the two competitions.
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
England Fraser Dingwall, right, celebrates with teammate Marcus Smith, after scoring a try during the rugby union Nations Series match between England and New Zealand in London, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Ireland's Ryan Baird, top left, compete to catch the ball with Australia's captain Harry Wilson, in the line out during the rugby union Nations Series match between Ireland and Australia in Dublin, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Japan's Harry Hockings, left, and Wales' Alex Mann, centre, battle for the ball during the rugby union Nations Series match between Wales and Japan at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem testified in the Senate on Tuesday in her first congressional appearance since the shooting deaths of two protesters in Minneapolis galvanized widespread opposition to how the Trump administration was executing its mass deportation agenda.
Noem's appearance in front of the Judiciary Committee also comes after a weekend shooting at a bar in Texas that is being investigated as a possible act of terrorism, leading to concerns that the escalating conflict in Iran could have repercussions for security in the U.S.
Her department's immigration tactics triggered a clash in Congress over its routine funding, which remains unresolved, although a spending bill passed last year granted it a significant infusion of cash for the Republican administration's mass deportation policy.
Noem defended her agency’s treatment of immigrants caught up in enforcement activities, and blamed activists and others for attacks against officers. She also lashed out at Democrats for the congressional funding showdown.
“The latest Democrat-led shutdown of DHS is reckless,” Noem said. “It’s unnecessary, and it undermines the American national security, and it harms the men and women who work at DHS and their families.”
Noem last appeared in Congress in December. But since then, President Donald Trump's immigration agenda and its enforcement by Noem's department have met fierce resistance in Minnesota, culminating in the deaths of two protesters, both U.S. citizens, at the hands of federal immigration officers.
In what was initially billed as an effort to root out fraud in Minnesota, Homeland Security eventually sent hundreds of officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection to the state. They were met by protesters who organized marches, patrolled neighborhoods for ICE activity with whistles and ferried food to immigrants too afraid to leave their homes.
Renee Good was shot and killed by an ICE officer on Jan. 7, setting off intense protests by Minnesota politicians and residents pushing for Homeland Security to end its operation in the state. Then on Jan. 24, Customs and Border Protection officers opened fire on another Minnesota resident, Alex Pretti, who had been filming enforcement operations.
Those deaths led to cries for accountability and transparency. Noem, whose initial comments portrayed both Good and Pretti as the aggressors, has come under withering criticism by Democrats and even some Republicans, who have called for her to resign.
After public outrage over the deaths, Trump sent border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis to take control of operations on the ground there. Homan has since announced a drawdown of the ICE and CBP officers who had been sent to Minnesota to carry out what had been dubbed Operation Metro Surge, although he's been adamant that the president's mass deportation agenda will continue.
Noem faced questioning from Democrats who say officers under her control have abused their power, used excessive force and violated people's constitutional rights in carrying the Trump administration's agenda.
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the committee, repeatedly questioned Noem about comments she made immediately after the deaths of both Good and Pretti that cast them as the aggressors in the events leading up to their deaths. He called on her to apologize.
“You and your agency rushed to brand these victims as, quote, domestic terrorists," Durbin said. “We have ample video evidence and eyewitness testimony proving you are wrong. Your statements caused immeasurable pain to these families.”
Noem said she was relying on information from people on the scene and blamed “violent protesters” for contributing to the chaos officers encountered.
“I was getting reports from the ground from agents at the scene, and I would say that it was a chaotic scene, as you’ve seen in Minneapolis and St. Paul," she said. Her officers “worked at targeting the worst of the worst” and many times faced violence from protesters, she added.
Homeland Security has often blamed conflicts in places like Minneapolis and Chicago where it's carrying out immigration enforcement activities as the fault of Democratic politicians who they say encourage people to oppose officers as they try to make arrests.
Noem is also slated to appear Wednesday in front of a House committee.
Angel Moms, parents whose children have died because of illegal immigrants, listen as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem appears for an oversight hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is sworn in before appearing for an oversight hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem appears for an oversight hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem appears for an oversight hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem appears for an oversight hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is seen before President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
