Nations Championship: England to play Springboks at Ellis Park

South Africa will open their 2026 season with a home Test against England at Ellis Park in the newly launched Nations Championship – SA Rugby have confirmed.

The union have also also confirmed the venues all of next year’s July window.

The pair, who didn’t meet this November, were the only unbeaten sides in the Quilter Nations Series.

The sides willl now meet on Saturday 4 July in Johannesburg, before Scotland travel to Loftus Versfeld on 11 July and Wales close out the month in Durban on 18 July.

It marks a return of familiar opposition to South Africa after some relatively lengthy absences. England have not toured since 2018, Scotland since 2014 and Wales since 2022.

“We’re excited to announce the three venues for our home games in the Nations Championship, with the Springboks’ full roster of home Tests for 2026 now locked in after the stadiums for Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry against New Zealand were confirmed a while ago,” said SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer.

He added that England “are on a good winning run and will arrive in South Africa confident, facing the Boks at Ellis Park where the last Test between the sides, in 2018, went down to the wire”.

Oberholzer pointed out the historical quirk surrounding Scotland’s visit, noting: “Amazingly enough, Scotland have never played the Boks at Loftus Versfeld, although they played two Rugby World Cup matches at the stadium in 1995.”

Turning to the final fixture, he said: “Wales’ last visit to Durban was in 2014 and we are looking forward to closing out our July roster at Hollywoodbets Kings Park, and with every match counting towards the standings, no team can afford to rest on their laurels.”

The November leg of the competition will take South Africa to Europe for Tests against Italy on the weekend of 6-8 November, France on 13-15 November and Ireland on 21 November. All six Six Nations teams will be faced over the course of the campaign.

A Finals Weekend is scheduled for 27-29 November 2026 at London’s Allianz Stadium, featuring three days of double-headers to close the first edition of the tournament.