England will begin their Nations Championship campaign on July 4 with a World Cup final rematch against South Africa in Johannesburg. Steve Borthwick’s side face the reigning world champions in their opening match before travelling on to play Fiji and Argentina during the southern hemisphere summer.
The extended summer schedule also features a number of heavyweight clashes: France meet New Zealand in Christchurch in their first outing since winning the Six Nations, while the Springboks have matches against Wales and Scotland. Ireland play Australia and Japan in the summer before heading to Auckland for a mouth-watering showdown with New Zealand. Scotland and Wales each have southern hemisphere ties with Argentina and Fiji respectively.
The three summer game weeks form the first part of the Nations Championship. The competition resumes in November with the northern hemisphere block, hosted largely at Twickenham, where England are set to face New Zealand, Australia and Japan. After the six gameweeks, a finals weekend at Twickenham will pair teams against their counterparts from the other hemisphere. The series concludes on November 29 with the first-placed northern hemisphere side meeting the first-placed southern hemisphere side. A Ryder Cup-style points system will determine the winner of the hemisphere trophies.
Key fixtures and full match schedule (times listed as in original announcement):
Saturday 4 July
New Zealand v France; 08:10 BST
Japan v Italy; 09:40 BST
Australia v Ireland; 11:10 BST
Fiji v Wales; 14:10 BST
South Africa v England; 16:40 BST
Argentina v Scotland; 20:10 BST
Saturday 11 July
New Zealand v Italy; 06:10 BST
Australia v France; 08:40 BST
Japan v Ireland; 11:10 BST
Fiji v England; 14:10 BST
South Africa v Scotland; 16:40 BST
Argentina v Wales; 20:10 BST
Saturday 18 July
New Zealand v Ireland; 08:10 BST
Japan v France; 09:40 BST
Australia v Italy; 11:10 BST
Fiji v Scotland; 14:10 BST
South Africa v Wales; 16:40 BST
Argentina v England; 20:10 BST
Friday 6 November
Ireland v Argentina; 20:10 GMT
Saturday 7 November
Italy v South Africa; 11:40 GMT
Scotland v New Zealand; 14:10 GMT
Wales v Japan; 16:40 GMT
France v Fiji; 20:10 GMT
Sunday 8 November
England v Australia; 15:10 GMT
Friday 13 November
France v South Africa; 20:10 GMT
Saturday 14 November
Italy v Argentina; 11:40 GMT
Wales v New Zealand; 14:10 GMT
England v Japan; 16:40 GMT
Ireland v Fiji; 20:10 GMT
Sunday 15 November
Scotland v Australia; 15:10 GMT
Saturday 21 November
England v New Zealand; 14:10 GMT
Scotland v Japan; 14:10 GMT
Ireland v South Africa; 16:40 GMT
Italy v Fiji; 16:40 GMT
France v Argentina; 20:10 GMT
Wales v Australia; 20:10 GMT
Finals weekend (Twickenham)
Friday 27 November
Sixth-placed northern v Sixth-placed southern; 16:40 GMT
Third-placed northern v Third-placed southern; 20:10 GMT
Saturday 28 November
Fifth-placed northern v Fifth-placed southern; 13:10 GMT
Second-placed northern v Second-placed southern; 16:40 GMT
Sunday 29 November
Fourth-placed northern v Fourth-placed southern; 13:10 GMT
First-placed northern v First-placed southern; 16:40 GMT
The schedule sets up a summer of demanding trips for northern hemisphere teams and offers a string of high-profile collisions between the world’s leading sides ahead of the November return leg and the finals weekend.