Wallabies are the hottest ticket in town as Nations Championship pulls in the fans

The Nations Championship and Nations Cup combined attracted just over three quarters of a million fans across the many stadiums and venues that hosted the competition’s 36 matches, with several recording sell-out crowds and reaching maximum capacity.

With games taking place in the four corners of the rugby world, here are the final attendance numbers of a remarkable beginning of two competitions that are here to stay.

But before we head to the main headlines, let’s state some interesting numbers!

A total of 17 cities hosted the competition’s 18 fixtures, with Tokyo the only city to stage multiple matches – Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium welcomed Italy, while Japan National Stadium hosted France.

In all, eight countries played their part in delivering the inaugural edition of the biannual event hosted in July by the south hemisphere nations, with a further four staging Nations Cup fixtures.

A total of 643,460 supporters cheered for their teams, meaning that we witnessed an average occupancy rate of 80%, a remarkable number for the first month of the Nations Championship.

Although attendance figures in the Nations Cup fell short of those recorded in the Nations Championship, the competition still drew 123,364 spectators across its 18 matches, underlining the strong interest and enthusiasm the competition generated among supporters.

Special mention must go to the Chilean Rugby Union, who welcomed more than 58,000 fans across the five matches it hosted. Remarkably, that figure was achieved despite the Chile vs Georgia fixture being played behind closed doors due to adverse weather conditions.

With the overall figures out of the way, let’s look at some of the milestones reached in the matches from the first three rounds of the Nations Championship 2026.

Highest attendance: Fiji vs Scotland (55,125)

Fiji’s final ‘home’ game took place at Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium with 55,125 fans flocking to the stands of one of the most historic grounds of the game.

With the Flying Fijians delivering a spectacular first half, Gregor Townsend’s side ultimately clawed their way back and regained the lead late on.

While it was a borrowed ‘home’ for the Pacific Island nation, the truth is that Fiji made an astonishing effort to make fans experience some of their cultural traits in an entertaining day of rugby.

The Springboks hosting of England takes the silver with a crowd of 52,790 fans, and Japan vs France finishes with the bronze, as Eddie Jones’ side welcomed 52,632 supporters to the Japan National Stadium.

Best occupancy rate: Australia vs France (99%)

The Australia vs France match (52,121 fans) saw the highest attendance rate, exceeding 99% of the Suncorp Stadium capacity, a remarkable feat for the Wallabies one year out from Rugby World Cup 2027.

Overall, the three matches hosted by the Wallabies consistently saw attendance rates well above 90%, drawing a total of around 113,000 fans to the stands.

Australia’s arm-wrestle with Ireland at the Sydney Football Stadium in round one was watched by 41,971 fans, maxing out its occupancy by 98%, while the third Test against Italy in Perth was a 19,268 sell-out at HBF Park.

Coming third, the All Blacks vs France blockbuster sold out 97% of the Crusaders’ newest ground, Te Kaha, delivering a special atmosphere for the Nations Championship opener.

Top-performing Union: South Africa 

While the Springboks didn’t have the match with the higest attendance, no team attracted more fans overall, with a combined attendance of 138,142 across their three matches.

Averaging 85% occupancy per match, the Springboks welcomed more than 52,000 thousand spectators in their 45-21 win over England, followed by a crowd of 45,000 for the visit of Scotland and 40,299 for their emphatic 45-0 win over Wales.

Rounding out the podium, Australia ranked second with a total attendance of 133,600 across their matches, while Fiji finished third after attracting more than 121,550 fans to their ‘home-from-home’ UK stadiums throughout the competition.

Most promising stadium debut: Hill Dickinson Stadium

While Liverpool is not a city commonly known for hosting rugby fixtures, it seems there’s an incredible potential waiting to be tapped, as seen by the 50,209 supporters who combined to support Fiji and England.

Everton F.C’s home ground opened its doors for the first time in February 2025 and was selected as one of Fiji’s loaned stadiums for the first month of the 2026 Nations Championship.

While few expected a massive turnout for the match, the presence of over fifty thousand fans clearly demonstrates that the sport has room to grow, with more communities interested in embracing the Test match scene.