World Rugby has officially announced the biggest overhaul of international rugby since the game went professional, expanding the World Cup and introducing the bi-annual Nations Championship.
The game’s governing body on Tuesday afternoon announced that the World Rugby Council has approved transformational reform of the global Test calendar from 2026.
The World Cup will be expanded from 20 to 24 teams for the 2027 tournament in Australia.
MORE: World Rugby greenlights Nations Championship
World Rugby also confirmed the launch of a bi-annual new international competition from 2026 – which has been dubbed the Nations Championship.
It will comprise a top division of 12 teams (Six Nations unions, SANZAAR unions and two further unions to be selected via a process run by SANZAAR, reported to be Fiji and Japan) and a second division run by World Rugby of 12 teams with promotion and relegation commencing from 2030.
Games will be played in the July and November Test windows, with further clarity over how fixtures will work to be announced.
There is also the launch of a new annual expanded Pacific Nations Cup competition in 2024, featuring Canada, Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Tonga and USA with home fixtures and Japan and USA alternating as finals hosts, guaranteeing a minimum of three additional matches a year in addition to the new international competition and cross-over fixtures.
“Agreement on the men’s and women’s global calendars and their content is the most significant development in the sport since the game went professional,” said World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont. “A historic moment for our sport that sets us up collectively for success.
“We now look forward to an exciting new era for our sport commencing in 2026. An era that will bring certainty and opportunity for all. An era that will support the many, not the few, and an era that will supercharge the development of the sport beyond its traditional and often self-imposed boundaries.”
Photo: Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP
