Kiss to take on Eddie in first Wallabies games as global Test championship launched

4 hours ago 2

Joe Schmidt will finish his Wallabies career with another trio of clashes against Italy, Ireland and France – and his successor, Les Kiss, will take on Eddie Jones twice in his first month – in a new-look Test calendar in 2026.

The Wallabies’ fixture list next year became clearer with confirmation the Nations Championship will commence in 2026.

As flagged by this masthead, the tournament will be played in two windows, in July and November, and contested by two groups of six nations, representing the northern and southern hemispheres.

The northern pool will comprise the Six Nations teams – England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, France and Italy – while the southern pool will be made up of Rugby Championship sides Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina, plus Fiji and Japan.

Teams will play each nation in the rival pool once – with three Tests in July and three in November – and based on points accrued, a grand final between the top-ranked sides from each pool will be played at the end of November.

The Wallabies will meet Ireland again in July next year.

Every team will play in a three-day finals weekend at Twickenham, against the side ranked the same as them in the other pool: first v first, second v second and so on. In a Ryder Cup-style team competition, the six finals will determine a champion hemisphere. Points will be earned for each final victory and a winning hemisphere will be crowned based on the best combined points tally.

Australia’s rivals in July next year will be Ireland, France and Italy. Venues are yet to be announced, but Sydney is likely to host the Irish Test on July 4 and the Wallabies-France clash on July 11 is likely to be in Brisbane, according to informed sources.

Those three European sides will also travel to play in New Zealand and Japan, while England, Wales and Scotland will travel to meet South Africa, Argentina and Fiji.

The Fijians are set to play their home games away in the first two Nations Championships, in 2026 and 2028, given the logistical and geographical challenges of playing in Fiji.

Playing home games in the UK or South Africa will deliver a significant revenue boost for the Fiji Rugby Union, however. A Test against England at Twickenham could yield more than $10 million for Fiji, for example.

World Rugby is also set to announce a second-tier Nations Championship, featuring the next 12 highest-ranked sides, and with promotion-relegation reportedly being added in 2030.

“SANZAAR nations have a proud and successful record at international level,” SANZAAR boss Brendan Morris said in a media release. “Our aim is to continue this record, and the Nations Championship, along with our rugby calendar for the 2026-2030 period, will provide the perfect pathway for continued success.”

As per Australia’s coaching succession plan announced last year, Kiss will take over from Schmidt in August. The deal was crafted to allow Kiss to see out his contract as Queensland Reds coach. The Super Rugby Pacific season ends in June.

It won’t be a standard Rugby Championship campaign for Kiss and the Wallabies next year, however. The tournament will be in hiatus due to New Zealand and South Africa staging the “Greatest Rugby Rivalry” tour, in which the All Blacks will be in South Africa for eight games.

Rugby Australia has filled the gap by arranging a home-and-away series with Japan in August, according to informed sources. That means Kiss’ first two Tests will be against former Wallabies coach Jones, when Japan will play Australia Down Under for the first time since the 1987 World Cup.

The Wallabies will also have a two-game tour of Argentina, as per the original Rugby Championship schedule, and will also still play the All Blacks twice to contest the Bledisloe Cup. South Africa are also set to travel to Australia for a Test, according to informed sources.

That will give the Wallabies another busy year of 14 Tests: seven in the Nations Championship and seven against “southern hemisphere” rivals.