Fixtures finally confirmed for November's one-off eight-team Nations Cup
Ireland and Wales will kick-off the new Autumn Nations Cup on November 13 in Dublin after Six Nations officials finally confirmed plans for the one-off eight-team tournament featuring Georgia and Fiji in competition along with the half-dozen Six Nations countries, including Eddie Jones’ England.
Recent World Cup quarter-finalists Japan were invited to take part in the four-round event but they pulled out last month, paving the way for the inclusion of Georgia who have been touted for years as a better bet to play in the Six Nations than misfiring Italy.
A statement released on Thursday read: “Six Nations Rugby together with its constituent unions and federations is extremely pleased to announce details of the Autumn Nations Cup – a completely new and innovative tournament that will take place over four weekends between November 13 and December 6.
“The Autumn Nations Cup 2020 will be a unique eight-team competition, involving the Six Nations as well as the rugby unions of Georgia and Fiji.
“In recent months as the scale of the challenge presented by the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, it became apparent that fulfilling the traditional autumn international fixtures would not be possible particularly as a result of travel restrictions preventing certain international teams from competing in scheduled fixtures.
England will play four matches including three @Quilter Internationals at Twickenham as part of a new Autumn Nations Cup from 14 November 🏆
The Cup will feature all @SixNationsRugby teams as well as Georgia and Fiji.
For fixtures, format and more follow the link ⬇️
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) September 10, 2020
“This newly created tournament will replace the traditional autumn international window for 2020 and ensures rugby fans all over the world will be treated to top-class international rugby this autumn. The format for the Autumn Nations Cup will be two pools of four – Group A will include England, Ireland, Wales and Georgia with Group B comprising of France, Scotland, Italy and Fiji.
“The action gets underway over the weekend of November 13/14/15, kicking off with the mouth-watering clash of Ireland and Wales at the Aviva Stadium on the Friday. This will be followed on Saturday by England v Georgia and Italy v Scotland, while on Sunday France will entertain Fiji.
“The Autumn Nations Cup will conclude on the weekend of December 5 and 6 with a special final round of matches. Based on the pool rankings coming into the final weekend, each team will face off against the team ranked in their same position in the opposite pool, a format which promises some intriguing and unexpected clashes e.g. 1st place Group A v 1st place Group B, 2nd place Group A v 2nd place Group B.
“In the coming weeks, as detailed planning continues ahead of the opening round of the Autumn Nations Cup 2020, the health and safety of players, associated staff and supporters will continue to be a key focus.
“Six Nations remains in close contact with all relevant authorities across the respective jurisdictions to ensure these matches take place in a safe environment and we will announce further details of health and safety protocols and guidance on spectator attendance in due course.”
England will host three games at Twickenham, with a venue still to be decided for their away game versus Wales.
AUTUMN NATIONS CUP FIXTURES
ROUND ONE
Nov 13: Ireland v Wales (Aviva Stadium, 7pm)
Nov 14: Italy v Scotland (TBC, 12.45pm), England v Georgia (Twickenham, 3pm)
Nov 15: France v Fiji (TBC)
ROUND TWO
Nov 21: Italy v Fiji (TBC, 12.45pm), England v Ireland (Twickenham, 3.0pm), Wales v Georgia (TBC, 5.15pm)
Nov 22: Scotland v France (Murrayfield, 3pm)
ROUND THREE
Nov 28: Scotland v Fiji (Murrayfield, 1.45pm), Wales v England (TBC, 4pm), France v Italy (TBC, 8pm)
Nov 29: Ireland v Georgia (Aviva Stadium, 2pm)
ROUND FOUR FINALS WEEKEND
Dec 5: Georgia v TBD (Murrayfield, 12pm), Ireland v TBD (Aviva Stadium, 2.15pm), Wales v TBD (TBC, 4.45pm)
Dec 6: England v TBD (Twickenham, 2pm)
He faced a 10-game ban before off-field mitigation factors were taken into accounthttps://t.co/lz6AUdyenw
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 8, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to comments