Autumn Nations Cup Format Confirmed

A new eight-team rugby tournament will be played in Europe this November and December. The Autumn Nations Cup will involve the Six Nations teams – England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales – as well as Fiji and Georgia.

It will take place over four successive weekends from 13 November to 6 December, with the eight teams split into two pools of four.

Group A features England, Georgia, Ireland and Wales while Group B comprises Fiji, France, Italy and Scotland.

Teams will play the other nations in their pool in a round-robin format before a finals weekend where the winners of each group will play each other, as will the runners-up and so on to determine final rankings.

The tournament will kick off with Ireland hosting Wales at the Aviva Stadium on Friday 13 November. The following day England will play Georgia at Twickenham and Italy will face Scotland, while on Sunday 15 November France will play Fiji.

Here is a full list of fixtures, although Some venue and kick-off information is still to be confirmed due to the pandemic…

Amazon Prime Video has the rights to broadcast the tournament in the UK – a first for the online streaming service – and coverage will be fronted by Gabby Logan and Bryan Habana.

Every game, except Ireland’s home matches against Wales and Georgia, will be shown live on Prime Video.

Channel 4 will also show three matches live on free-to-air TV – Ireland v Wales, England v Ireland and Ireland v Georgia – as well as highlights from all four rounds.

Six Nations Rugby chief executive Ben Morel said: “A significant amount of time and effort has gone into delivering this new tournament format in testing circumstances and the spirit of collaboration amongst key stakeholders has been outstanding.

“While the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic made the traditional autumn Test window unfeasible, we remained determined to deliver a unique and compelling tournament proposition which would ensure world-class rugby for our fans globally, and competitive matches for players, unions and federations.”

As for whether fans will be able to attend these Tests, that will be determined by the restrictions in place in each country hosting matches. It’s unlikely that spectators will be permitted in the UK but it may be possible in France.

Wales’ first two home fixtures will be played at Parc y Scarlets as the Principality Stadium is being used as the Dragon’s Heart Hospital. Coach Wayne Pivac says: “It has been a tough year for everyone so we are hoping international rugby can provide some relief and enjoyment for supporters and sports fans alike.”

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