Eighteen Tests, two pools, one very long November
Bucharest on a Friday night in November is where this thing restarts. World Rugby published the full Nations Cup programme on Tuesday: 18 Tests, nine per pool, scattered across Europe and Hong Kong, with two titles at the end of it.
Romania host Tonga on 6 November to get it going. Georgia take on Canada in Tbilisi the following day, Portugal welcome Chile to Lisbon, and the opening weekend closes in France with Hong Kong China against the United States in Bourg-en-Bresse.
Round two is played in one block on Saturday 14 November. Round three opens on Friday 20 with Romania against Canada, followed by five games the next day.
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The United States and Georgia already have a head start
July settled part of this. The first block, played in the Americas, ended with the United States and Georgia on top of their pools, both unbeaten across three Tests.
That leaves them well placed. It settles nothing, though, with nine matches per pool still to be played before the 12 nations are sorted out.
Read the fixture list closely and something else jumps out. Zimbabwe against Samoa and Spain against Uruguay will be staged in Wakefield, England. Hong Kong China against the United States and Zimbabwe against Chile land in France. The logistics of second-tier international rugby remain a work in progress.
Everyone here is already going to Australia
All 12 teams have qualified for the 2027 World Cup. What the Nations Cup gives them is regular fixtures against opposition of a similar standard, the thing these unions have been asking for over the last decade.
World Rugby chairman Brett Robinson called it a meaningful step towards the 2027 tournament.
It runs alongside the Nations Championship, which is kept for Tier 1 sides. Two circuits, two worlds, and no bridge between them yet.
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