WHAT WE ALL need right now is another major sporting event to squeeze into our busy schedules of watching the All-Ireland championships, Fifa World Cup, Wimbledon, PGA golf, Tour de France (starting on Saturday) and whatever else piques your own particular interests.
Enter the brand spanking new Nations Championship, here to eat up your Saturdays for the next three weeks.
Starting this weekend, you can tune in for New Zealand v France at 8.10am and enjoy a steady flow of games right up to Argentina v Scotland at 8.10pm. Not the healthiest way to spend a summer’s day, but we’re not here to judge.
Naturally, most of the interest in these parts will focus on Ireland’s meeting with the Wallabies in Sydney (11.10am), but the rest of the schedule promises plenty of decent viewing. The hope is that the tournament will offer more intrigue than the previous July windows, although we’d argue this mini-World Cup offers less romance than the long-standing touring tradition.
Following these three summer Tests, the Southern Hemisphere sides will travel north in November, before each hemisphere’s six teams are ranked one to six for a weekend of finals games in London (first v first, second v second etc), while a winning hemisphere will also be crowned, Ryder Cup-style.
So, while teams might have a fixture or two to rotate, the big hitters may feel moved to go full throttle more often, given there is ultimately a trophy – named ‘the Trophy’, in case you’re wondering – on the line later in the season.
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Eddie Jones' Japan will compete as a Southern Hemisphere side. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
But as is so often the case with rugby, it’s not quite that simple. For a start, the whole north v south thing isn’t strictly true. For example, the decidedly Northern Hemisphere country of Japan will compete as a Southern Hemisphere nation to balance the north v south split. Fiji, who hold a long history of existing in the Southern Hemisphere, will play their home games in Cardiff, London and Edinburgh in a bid to sell more tickets and pump up their union’s accounts.
Japan will also board a plane for their ‘home’ game against Ireland, fixed for Newcastle, Australia. You may be asking why Japan have a home fixture some 8,000km south of Tokyo. Japan boss Eddie Jones has the answer. “You know why we’re playing Ireland in Newcastle?” Jones quizzed reporters. “Ireland have all the power at World Rugby.”
One imagines no-one at World Rugby is losing too much sleep over any of this. A more pressing concern would have been that France ditch their summer habit of taking the youngsters on tour and instead go all-in for their opening round meeting with the All Blacks.
Many of the French stars are on board, with Antoine Dupont, Thomas Ramos and Louis Bielle-Biarrey high-profile absentees. Dupont was one of nine players added to Fabien Galthié’s squad following Saturday’s Top 14 final, only for the scrum-half to withdraw the following day due to a calf injury.
Galthié is expected to name a strong selection but that long-standing itch to blood younger faces in this window must be scratched. This weekend, 20-year-old Pau centre Fabien Brau-Boirie has been tipped to build on his two Six Nations starts (v Wales and Italy) by getting the vote of confidence against the All Blacks. Racing’s Max Spring (25), capped once in 2022, is also reportedly pushing Théo Attissogbefor a start at fullback. So in short, expect France to try to build on their Six Nations-winning campaign while also growing their options ahead of next year’s World Cup.
Fabien Brau-Boirie had a strong season with Pau. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
For New Zealand, the overall aim might be to simply steady the boat. These will be Dave Rennie’s first Tests in charge since replacing Scott Robertson, who lasted just 27 games in the hottest of rugby hot seats, with a 74% win rate amid bubbling player unrest. Rennie has signed up for a more short-term arrangement, with his deal running to the end of the 2027 World Cup.
Scrum-half Kyle Preston is an interesting squad inclusion, having not started a single game for the Crusaders this season and totalling just 238 minutes of Super Rugby action.
So too that of in-form winger Fehi Fineanganofo, who makes the cut despite an impending move to Newcastle Red Bulls in December. A return of 17 tries from 14 games for the Hurricanes made the 23-year-old (who can also play centre) too hard to ignore, amid reports that Rennie is keen for the uncapped All Black to remain in the New Zealand Rugby system. If Leinster fans were hoping to get a look at their now former player, they will be disappointed to see Rieko Ioane did not make Rennie’s squad.
Most recently of Japan’s Kolbe Steelers, the early soundings are that Rennie has kept things relatively simple, putting a big focus on cleaning up the All Blacks’ basics and drilling home the history and status of the jersey, a refresher course which seems to happen every couple of years now.
But the aura has faded somewhat, and New Zealand may pursue a more high-tempo, exciting style to help get the public back on board. An opening win against the high-flying French would be a fine start.
SouthAfrica launch their campaign against England, and even with a long injury list, Rassie Erasmus has picked a frighteningly powerful selection, going early by revealing his hand on Monday.
An experienced, decorated starting XV share 935 caps between them, although the absence of the injured Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu creates another Dupont-sized hole for the neutral observer. Manie Libbok is the starting 10, with Handré Pollard absent from the 23 after his poor showing in the Bulls’ URC final loss to Leinster.
Mannie Libbok is South Africa's starting 10 this weekend. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
With the Boks also facing Tests against Argentina and Australia post-Nations Championship, either side of four home games against New Zealand, Erasmus will have plenty time for a deep examination of his resources. But even the back-to-back world champions face challenges at home, with that busy run of home games factoring into the reportedly low tickets sales for Saturday’s opener with England.
Interest may ramp up as the competition progresses, and South Africa will be favourites to lift the trophy later this year – with new laws around the maul expected to suit their strengths.
Speaking of interest, England face a battle to engage their home audience. At the time of writing, their opening fixture with South Africa is pencilled in for ITV4, with The Telegraph reporting that ITV 1 will split that time between Tipping Point and the Fifa World Cup, while ITVs 2 and 3 are booked up by Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and Midsomer Murders.
After a woeful Six Nations, Steve Borthwick’s men might be happy to just escape South Africa in one piece, with England seeking their first win in Ellis Park since 1972.
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England, as always, are a fascinating group. This year’s Six Nations was their worst-ever, and their schedule is a demanding one, taking in three continents (playing in Johannesburg, Liverpool and Argentina’s Santiago del Estero) over three successive weekends.
With Maro Itoje rested, Jamie George captains Borthwick’s squad this summer, but the return of the explosive Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, who missed the Six Nations with injury, is a huge boost for a side who have lacked cutting edge. He’s the type of player any rugby fan enjoys watching.
But, ask yourself this. Are you praying to see the start of an English revival this weekend, hoping they can put their weight into the north’s push to be declared the winning hemisphere in November?
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Nations Championship faces fight to capture imaginations in a busy sporting summer
WHAT WE ALL need right now is another major sporting event to squeeze into our busy schedules of watching the All-Ireland championships, Fifa World Cup, Wimbledon, PGA golf, Tour de France (starting on Saturday) and whatever else piques your own particular interests.
Enter the brand spanking new Nations Championship, here to eat up your Saturdays for the next three weeks.
Starting this weekend, you can tune in for New Zealand v France at 8.10am and enjoy a steady flow of games right up to Argentina v Scotland at 8.10pm. Not the healthiest way to spend a summer’s day, but we’re not here to judge.
Naturally, most of the interest in these parts will focus on Ireland’s meeting with the Wallabies in Sydney (11.10am), but the rest of the schedule promises plenty of decent viewing. The hope is that the tournament will offer more intrigue than the previous July windows, although we’d argue this mini-World Cup offers less romance than the long-standing touring tradition.
Following these three summer Tests, the Southern Hemisphere sides will travel north in November, before each hemisphere’s six teams are ranked one to six for a weekend of finals games in London (first v first, second v second etc), while a winning hemisphere will also be crowned, Ryder Cup-style.
So, while teams might have a fixture or two to rotate, the big hitters may feel moved to go full throttle more often, given there is ultimately a trophy – named ‘the Trophy’, in case you’re wondering – on the line later in the season.
But as is so often the case with rugby, it’s not quite that simple. For a start, the whole north v south thing isn’t strictly true. For example, the decidedly Northern Hemisphere country of Japan will compete as a Southern Hemisphere nation to balance the north v south split. Fiji, who hold a long history of existing in the Southern Hemisphere, will play their home games in Cardiff, London and Edinburgh in a bid to sell more tickets and pump up their union’s accounts.
Japan will also board a plane for their ‘home’ game against Ireland, fixed for Newcastle, Australia. You may be asking why Japan have a home fixture some 8,000km south of Tokyo. Japan boss Eddie Jones has the answer. “You know why we’re playing Ireland in Newcastle?” Jones quizzed reporters. “Ireland have all the power at World Rugby.”
One imagines no-one at World Rugby is losing too much sleep over any of this. A more pressing concern would have been that France ditch their summer habit of taking the youngsters on tour and instead go all-in for their opening round meeting with the All Blacks.
Many of the French stars are on board, with Antoine Dupont, Thomas Ramos and Louis Bielle-Biarrey high-profile absentees. Dupont was one of nine players added to Fabien Galthié’s squad following Saturday’s Top 14 final, only for the scrum-half to withdraw the following day due to a calf injury.
Galthié is expected to name a strong selection but that long-standing itch to blood younger faces in this window must be scratched. This weekend, 20-year-old Pau centre Fabien Brau-Boirie has been tipped to build on his two Six Nations starts (v Wales and Italy) by getting the vote of confidence against the All Blacks. Racing’s Max Spring (25), capped once in 2022, is also reportedly pushing Théo Attissogbe for a start at fullback. So in short, expect France to try to build on their Six Nations-winning campaign while also growing their options ahead of next year’s World Cup.
For New Zealand, the overall aim might be to simply steady the boat. These will be Dave Rennie’s first Tests in charge since replacing Scott Robertson, who lasted just 27 games in the hottest of rugby hot seats, with a 74% win rate amid bubbling player unrest. Rennie has signed up for a more short-term arrangement, with his deal running to the end of the 2027 World Cup.
Scrum-half Kyle Preston is an interesting squad inclusion, having not started a single game for the Crusaders this season and totalling just 238 minutes of Super Rugby action.
So too that of in-form winger Fehi Fineanganofo, who makes the cut despite an impending move to Newcastle Red Bulls in December. A return of 17 tries from 14 games for the Hurricanes made the 23-year-old (who can also play centre) too hard to ignore, amid reports that Rennie is keen for the uncapped All Black to remain in the New Zealand Rugby system. If Leinster fans were hoping to get a look at their now former player, they will be disappointed to see Rieko Ioane did not make Rennie’s squad.
Most recently of Japan’s Kolbe Steelers, the early soundings are that Rennie has kept things relatively simple, putting a big focus on cleaning up the All Blacks’ basics and drilling home the history and status of the jersey, a refresher course which seems to happen every couple of years now.
But the aura has faded somewhat, and New Zealand may pursue a more high-tempo, exciting style to help get the public back on board. An opening win against the high-flying French would be a fine start.
South Africa launch their campaign against England, and even with a long injury list, Rassie Erasmus has picked a frighteningly powerful selection, going early by revealing his hand on Monday.
An experienced, decorated starting XV share 935 caps between them, although the absence of the injured Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu creates another Dupont-sized hole for the neutral observer. Manie Libbok is the starting 10, with Handré Pollard absent from the 23 after his poor showing in the Bulls’ URC final loss to Leinster.
With the Boks also facing Tests against Argentina and Australia post-Nations Championship, either side of four home games against New Zealand, Erasmus will have plenty time for a deep examination of his resources. But even the back-to-back world champions face challenges at home, with that busy run of home games factoring into the reportedly low tickets sales for Saturday’s opener with England.
Interest may ramp up as the competition progresses, and South Africa will be favourites to lift the trophy later this year – with new laws around the maul expected to suit their strengths.
Speaking of interest, England face a battle to engage their home audience. At the time of writing, their opening fixture with South Africa is pencilled in for ITV4, with The Telegraph reporting that ITV 1 will split that time between Tipping Point and the Fifa World Cup, while ITVs 2 and 3 are booked up by Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and Midsomer Murders.
After a woeful Six Nations, Steve Borthwick’s men might be happy to just escape South Africa in one piece, with England seeking their first win in Ellis Park since 1972.
England, as always, are a fascinating group. This year’s Six Nations was their worst-ever, and their schedule is a demanding one, taking in three continents (playing in Johannesburg, Liverpool and Argentina’s Santiago del Estero) over three successive weekends.
With Maro Itoje rested, Jamie George captains Borthwick’s squad this summer, but the return of the explosive Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, who missed the Six Nations with injury, is a huge boost for a side who have lacked cutting edge. He’s the type of player any rugby fan enjoys watching.
But, ask yourself this. Are you praying to see the start of an English revival this weekend, hoping they can put their weight into the north’s push to be declared the winning hemisphere in November?
Didn’t think so.
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Nations Championship north v south Rugby