SA Rugby confirm 2026 Toyota Challenge with 4 nations represented

South Africa Rugby has publicly announced that the Toyota Cheetahs, Suzuki Griquas and Airlink Pumas will be facing the likes of Portugal’s Lusitanos, Georgia’s Black Lion and Romania ‘A’ in June in a race to win the Toyota Challenge.

The first set of fixtures will be played on the 5th, 10th and 14th of June at the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein, with the South African sides meeting their European rivals. In the first and second rounds, games are set to start at noon and continue until 4pm. In the third round, the matches begin two hours later and end at 6pm.

In October, these six sides will meet again, but this time around in Europe, more precisely in Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi.

As stated in the press release published by South Africa Rugby, Mark Alexander believes this is a step in the right direction for the game.

“The Toyota Challenge is a strategic investment in the growth of the game, the strengthening of international ties and the preparation of athletes for rugby’s greatest stage. We are looking forward to welcoming our European partners and celebrating the spirit of unity, performance and opportunity that this competition embodies.”

Fixture

United Rugby Championship

Lions

07:00

25 Apr 26

Connacht

All Stats and Data

While supporters of the Cheetahs, Griquas and Pumas expect their sides to field their best available team in preparation for the Currie Cup Premier Division, their European counterparts will bring several familiar faces to South Africa.

The Black Lion will be looking to send their most talented operators who were involved in this year’s EPCR Challenge Cup, including prolific try-scorer Akaki Tabutsadze, Demi Tapladze, Mikheil Babunashvili, and Giorgi Tsutskiridze.

Romania ‘A’ will be a mix of athletes who were on the field in the past Men’s Rugby Europe Championship, such as Iulian Hartig, Cosmin Manole and Hinckley Vaovasa, or who have recovered from serious injuries like Jason Tomane and Gabriel Rupanu.

As for Portugal, they will be sending their union franchise, the Lusitanos, who finished 2nd in the 2025/2026 Rugby Europe Super Cup. While the likes of Rodrigo Marta, Raffaele Storti, Nicolás Martins and Cody Thomas won’t be available for selection, Tomás Appleton, David Wallis and João Granate are expected to be involved in the team coached by Simon Mannix.

Portugal, Georgia and Romania, who have qualified for the upcoming Rugby World Cup, will participate in the Nations Cup and look to the Toyota Challenge as a launching pad for the competition, which will take place in July and November of this year.

Toyota Challenge June fixtures (kick-off times tbc):
Friday, 5 June 2026
14h00: Airlink Pumas vs Black Lion
16h00: Suzuki Griquas vs Romania ‘A’
18h00: Toyota Cheetahs vs Portugal

Wednesday, 10 June 2026
14h00: Suzuki Griquas vs Black Lion
16h00: Airlink Pumas vs Portugal
18h00: Toyota Cheetahs vs Romania ‘A’

Sunday, 14 June 2026
12h00: Suzuki Griquas vs Portugal
14h00: Airlink Pumas vs Romania ‘A’
16h00: Toyota Cheetahs vs Black Lion