Rugby

New competition for Flying Fijians

February 5, 2025 7:05 am

World Rugby Chair Brett Robinson touched on ongoing negotiations for a new global men’s competition, The Nations Championship, which aims to include Japan and Fiji alongside top-tier rugby nations.

World Rugby Chair Brett Robinson has shed some light on a new competition involving our Flying Fijians.

This as World Rugby has reaffirmed Japan’s strong interest in hosting the 2035 Rugby World Cup.

Robinson touched on ongoing negotiations for a new global men’s competition, The Nations Championship, which aims to include Japan and Fiji alongside top-tier rugby nations.

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“Negotiations are currently underway between the SANZAAR nations, the six nations, the JRFU and Fiji to pull together what that tier 1 competition needs to look like. And we will do whatever we need to do to help finalize those negotiations. In particular, the important role that Japan will play in that competition.”

World Rugby has confirmed the format for its new Nations Championship, set to kick off next year.

The competition will feature a European Conference, made up of the Six Nations unions, and a Rest of the World Conference, including SANZAAR nations along with two invited teams, which are expected to be Japan and Fiji.

Each team will face all six sides from the opposing conference during the July and November test windows.

The tournament will conclude with a grand final in November between the top teams from each conference to decide the champion.

A second-tier Challenger Series will run alongside, with promotion and relegation set to begin in 2030.