IRELAND WILL FACE Wales, England, and Georgia in the newly-formed Autumn Nations Cup, with the tournament finally now officially confirmed.
Andy Farrell’s side have been drawn in Group A of the competition, which kicks off on 13 November and runs through to play-off games on 5 and 6 December.
Ireland will host Wales and Georgia at the Aviva Stadium, as well as travelling to take on England in Twickenham.
Fiji make up Group B with France, Scotland, and Italy.
Final standings in each group will decide the play-off games, with 1st v 1st, 2nd v 2nd, 3rd v 3rd, and 4th v 4th.
Ireland will have home advantage for their play-off fixture, with that match already confirmed for the Aviva Stadium.
Andy Farrell’s men kick-off their campaign with a unique Friday night game against Wales on 13 November before visiting England on Saturday 21 November, and playing Georgia on Sunday 29 November.
Their play-off game is scheduled for Saturday 5 December.
Six Nations Rugby officially unveiled the plans today, bringing clarity to the autumn Test schedule in the Northern Hemisphere. Japan had initially been set for involvement in the Autumn Nations Cup but had to pull out due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, with Georgia taking their place.
Ireland will finish their 2020 Six Nations campaign at home to Italy and away to France on the final two weekends of October before a rest weekend on 7 November.
Thereafter, they will play four consecutive weekends of Test rugby in the Autumn Nations Cup, meaning a very busy period for Farrell and co.
Six Nations Rugby says Autumn Nations Cup broadcast arrangements in specific markets will be announced in due course.
“We are absolutely delighted to formally announce details of the Autumn Nations Cup,” said Six Nations CEO Ben Morel.
“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.
“We cannot wait for the tournament to get underway in November and fans can look forward to some outstanding matches featuring some of the greatest players in the world.
“We are especially pleased to be joined by Fiji and Georgia and expect them both to be tremendous additions to the competition.”
- This article was updated at 4.34pm to correct the date of Ireland’s play-off fixture from ’5 November’ to ’5 December’.
