Could new Nations Championship transform Test rugby? The jury is out

There is logic to the fresh international format, due to launch next year, but glaring issues and logistical challenges too 

HEIGHT OF MADNESS? The jury is out on the new Nations Championship in 2026, when Ireland will renew acquaintances with Australia in their first July outing. Pic: Nick Elliott, Inpho

OK, let’s just pick the ball up and run with it for a little while. A reimagined global Test landscape pitching the northern hemisphere against the south commencing next July. Twelve men’s national sides playing six games each with a final playoff weekend. Concluding with one champion team hoisting a shiny trophy aloft in front of, hopefully, a worldwide television audience of millions.

On paper – and years of scribbling on the backs of envelopes have gone into this – there is some logic to it. Instead of seemingly random Tests scattered like distant dots on someone else’s map there is at least a discernible framework. Every game will, in theory, resonate. And, by virtue of pooling everybody’s TV rights, there are hopes of a collective commercial and promotional upside that can benefit the whole sport.