No Rugby Championship in 2026, 2028 or 2030

The annual Rugby Championship tournament is no more. A semi-breakaway move from New Zealand and South Africa has taken place. Former Wallaby and current Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh confirmed to The Roar that the Rugby Championship will not be held in 2026, 2028, or 2030.

 

2026 TOUR STRUCTURE

Craig Ray reports that the inaugural series will see South Africa hosting eight matches in 2026. Marketed as “The Greatest Rugby Rivalry,” there will be there Springboks vs All Blacks test matches in South Africa in 2026 as well as United Rugby Championship (URC) teams each facing the All Blacks and a South Africa A vs New Zealand fixture.

New Zealand and South Africa have also agreed to play each-other in an additional test match in 2026. The fourth meeting, which will not be a part of the tour or series, is expected to either be played in London or the USA.

New Zealand and South Africa’s decision is akin to a Southern Hemisphere Rugby Cold War. The NZ-ZA move sees Argentina and Australia excluded by a bilateral agreement. Is means South Africa and New Zealand will play each-other in tours comparable to those of the British & Irish Lions.

 

REDUCE OR CANCEL RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP

The change comes months after a different change had been widely speculated. While it is true that South Africa will not leave the Rugby Championship for the Six Nations, the downsizing of the Rugby Championship in 2026, 2028 and 2030 comes after a previous SANZAAR agreement had been reached to continue the Rugby Championship until 2030.

South Africa Rugby boss Rian Oberholzer is pushing for the Rugby Championship in 2026, 2028 and 2030 to feature one, rather than two, test matches between each of the four teams. This would be a reduction of 50% to mirror the format used in World Cup years.

New Zealand has a different mindset. New Zealand is pushing for the Rugby Championship to not be played at all in the All Blacks vs Springboks tour years. It comes several years after New Zealand ended the Super Rugby partnership to discontinue the involvement of SANZAAR members South Africa and Argentina.

Argentine Rugby expert Alejo Miranda criticized New Zealand and South Africa for working together for themselves by excluding their partners. Miranda suggested that New Zealand and South Africa are rehashing old formulas as a means to an end of escaping their financial crises.

 

RESCHEDULING THE VOID

In addition to there being no Rugby Championship in 2026, 2028 or 2030, Waugh clarified that Australia is talking with Argentina, New Zealand and Australia about “unprecedented inbound and outbound tours” during the NZ-ZA tour years.

Australia is working on hosting South Africa for one match in 2026 and having two Bledisloe Cup matches against New Zealand. Australia and Argentina may face each-other or others or simply have “off-seasons.”

The inaugural NZ-ZA tour notably falls a year before Australia hosts Rugby World Cup 2027. Japan away is plausible; however, an innovation such as an August home series against Argentina cannot be matched by other possibilities a year before Australia 2027.

A second option for Australia and Argentina would be to play a Tri Nations or a Four Nations competition. The Wallabies, and Los Pumas could fill the void by playing a three-team tournament that also includes Fiji or a four-team format with Fiji and Japan.

A third option to pursue would be for Argentina and Australia to each pursue separate innovations during NZ-ZA tour years. Argentina could work with the non-Anglo powers to re-establish the Copa Latina. Buenos Aires and Tucumán hosted the inaugural tournament in 1995 and France the next in 1997. Italy and Romania competed in both.

A 2026 Copa Latina could expand to include Chile, Uruguay, Portugal and Spain. This possibility could (a) see fixtures in South America in July and in Europe in November or (b) an expanded mid-year window similar to Lions tours.

A fourth option, is the Americas Rugby Championship. The competition could return in 2026, being positioned in August and September. This would be beneficial to Brazil Chile, Uruguay, Canada and the USA but would not provide Argentina with Tier 1 opposition.