A new global rugby competition has been formally launched. Organizers say it can ‘redefine’ the game

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 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 - 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 journey north for the remaining three rounds before the finale at the end of the month Each group will play all six rivals from the other hemisphere Tom Harrison CEO of Six Nations Rugby reported 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 mentioned with a clear vision to grow the tournament by challenging traditional methods 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 feasible disruptor in R Fixtures stated The new competition was ratified by World Rugby in and only now has the inaugural schedule been publicized 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 verified are venues The BBC shared that the England away meeting against Fiji in the second round of July fixtures will take place in South Africa This new competition changes the global championship as we know it Rian Oberholzer CEO of South Africa s rugby federation explained adding that every test will now count for more than just bragging rights and world ranking points The format 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 club 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 challenge 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 current tournaments 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 in South Africa and again in in New Zealand To accommodate that series and the Nations Championship next year the Rugby Championship will not be played in or in Competition organizer SANZAAR has reported it will be held in albeit in a slimmer version in July-August ahead of the World Cup in Australia in September and also in and R The launch of the Nations Championship is an exciting enhancement for rugby especially amid the viable advent of R That is a startup fronted by former England rugby international Mike Tindall which hopes to launch in September or October 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 outlay 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 Second tier A second-tier competition the Nations Cup was also disclosed by World Rugby That will also feature 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 th association is set to be Belgium or Samoa The schedule for the Nations Cup hasn t been communicated yet There was no word about the possibility of promotion or relegation between the two competitions AP rugby https apnews com hub rugby Source