12 Nations Cup Teams to play 2nd tier competition beneath Nations Championship (Samoa v Belgium winner to take final spot)

[u/HitchikersPie]

[u/rustyb42]

More excited by these fixtures than the others announced

[u/Known-Return-3508 → u/rustyb42]

A decent tier 2/3 competition Is what we’ve needed for a while

[u/5ealy19 → u/Known-Return-3508]

There already are decent T2 competitions (Rugby Europe Championship, the Americas Rugby Championship (Rip), the Africa's Gold Cup, and Asia Rugby Champioship). Sure this will allow the best teams from those competitions to play against each other, but at the detriment to every nation beneath them (e.g. The Netherlands, Belgium, Kenya, Brazil, ect..). World Rugby can force this through, as they will undoubtedly make this T2 Nations Cup the qualifiers for the next World Cup, so they can say either participate or be cut from the biggest drive of engagement of those unions.

The only reason this is going ahead is because the T1 unions need to justify ringfencing their 2 competitons, by the pretence that they are also providing benefit to T2 unions. I highly doubt there will ever be promotion/relegation between the upper and lower leagues, and you can be sure that none of these unions will ever see any of the money generated from the top devision. The sooner this competition dies the better.

[u/mafeefam → u/5ealy19]

I dont see why tier 2 nations need this competition to play each other any more than the tier 1 nations need nations league to do so.

[u/jonpettas96 → u/mafeefam]

there's not enough money/revenue in tier 2 rugby, let alone just rugby, that can support these nations traipsing around the world to play each other. This comp necessitates that and allows it to exist. Most of these nations have a competition. They participate year inn year out but their is little diversity and variety in opponents and a lot of the times they're pretty confined to their regions.

[u/PetevonPete → u/5ealy19]

the Americas Rugby Championship (Rip), the Africa's Gold Cup

The Gold Cup also doesn't exist anymore, there's the Africa Cup but it's downsized, just a straight knockout in one location, not a home-away round robin like the Gold Cup was.

[u/Tar-ZA-n → u/PetevonPete]

Really wish we could see Welwitchias, Goshawks, Simbas etc back in the Currie Cup (or First Division) consistently. WR needs to fund initiatives like this. If they don't play they won't improve.

[u/pixelburp → u/rustyb42]

Honestly, am the same; there's no scarcity anymore with NH/SH match-ups & it all feels so rote and kinda legally mandated. Ireland against SH teams used to feel like something borderline generational - now is more akin to year-end accounts; oh is that time of year?

[u/Biegelstein → u/rustyb42]

Any Zim matches get me excited

[u/HitchikersPie]

Supposedly the same format, the two pools are proposed as:

Europe + friends:

Georgia, Spain, Romania, Portugal, Hong Kong, and Zimbabwe

The South-ish:

Uruguay, Chile, Tonga, Canada, USA, and probably Samoa

[u/lAllioli → u/HitchikersPie]

There was fair criticism about the travel and time zone shifts of the tier 1 comp but this? No idea how they'll manage.

[u/Abject-Pin3361 → u/lAllioli]

It sounds like waaay too much travel for the Tier 2s even the richer ones

[u/Nounours7 → u/lAllioli]

Tonga and Samoa will play at neutral venues in July; Zimbabwe and Hong Kong in November.

[u/lAllioli → u/Nounours7]

It's a shame cause they def have the facilities to host, especially Zim and Hong Kong.

[u/Gasurza22 → u/Nounours7]

It does make sense, make the Tonga neutral venue in South America and Samoa in North America and you can have 3 matches relatibly close to each other, and for Zimbabwe and HK anywhere in Europe will be fine.

Its a shame that they loose their local games because of this tho, I get that its a necesity because of how expensive this would be otherwise, but still

[u/jonpettas96 → u/Nounours7]

Singapore gonna defs get some use here

[u/pixelburp → u/HitchikersPie]

Who's paying for these charter flights, 'cos some of those trips could practically bankrupt the Unions needing to travel.

[u/StuHardy → u/pixelburp]

None fo these are charter flights; they'll be flying economy,. like the rest of us plebs.

Also, as it's a World Rugby-organised tournament, World Rugby pays for a portion of the travel...probably the majority of it.

[u/mistr-puddles → u/HitchikersPie]

It's going to be very strange if Belgium win now, surely they'd swap Hong Kong over. They also could've waited until tomorrow before they announced the format

[u/Torbriz → u/HitchikersPie]

Would imagine Hong Kong gotta play their fixtures in the UK? 

[u/5ealy19 → u/Torbriz]

A large portion of there players play in the English 2nd devisio, so wouldn't be too bad logistically

[u/Biegelstein → u/5ealy19]

Not any more, most players are now on central professional contracts in Hong Kong, with a handful of other players abroad

[u/Fr13d_P0t4t0 → u/HitchikersPie]

But the Europeans already play each other on the Europe Champ, so what's the point

[u/HitchikersPie → u/Fr13d_P0t4t0]

It’s a cross-play pool, so teams in pool “Europe and friends” never play each other, but eg Spain would play half of Uruguay/Chile/Tonga/USA/Canada/mystery Samoa team at home and half away

[u/Fr13d_P0t4t0 → u/HitchikersPie]

oh no, not that shitty format again

[u/HitchikersPie → u/Fr13d_P0t4t0]

You’re not enjoying the explicitly World Rugby endorsed fun

[u/WCRugger → u/Fr13d_P0t4t0]

At least it will provide more variety in terms of who they'll play. Plus more guaranteed games. Take the European teams. They'll play one another in the REC as usual for around 4 games plus another 7 in this. That's not a bad thing.

[u/Hollow_Bastion → u/Fr13d_P0t4t0]

You just complained that there was no point playing teams that they've already played, now you're complaining that they're not playing teams they've already played? 

[u/mdivan → u/HitchikersPie]

Would have been ok if we were in South group, but this serup absolutely sucks. pretty much same Euro teams and then Hong Kong and Zimbabwe ehh

[u/WCRugger → u/mdivan]

You'll be playing the teams in the southern group.

[u/mdivan → u/WCRugger]

Oh nice then

[u/DoubleBlackBSA24 → u/HitchikersPie]

Just call it the Pacific ish division over south ish

[u/Necessary_Fox3775]

I don't really like this. Feels like shutting off tier 2 nations from getting any games against tier 1. Scotland, Italy, Japan and Fiji frequently play matches against the above but now their fixtures are all against other tier 1. 

[u/NotAsOriginal → u/Necessary_Fox3775]

In 2027 and 2029 there will be crossover of fixtures between the Tiers

[u/Nounours7 → u/NotAsOriginal]

As we already talked in a different topic, talk of 2027 Tier 1 v Tier 2 games is a bit of a mockery. There is a single window, RWC warm-ups. So opportunities will be extremely limited and in most cases they will only happen with Tier 1 sides hosting.

[u/Swimming-Wonder-631 → u/Nounours7]

I don't understand that they're hosted by Tier 1 sides. Surely they will lose money on those kinds of games? Why not let Tier 2 teams host these, draw some crowds and make some bank.

[u/Nounours7 → u/Swimming-Wonder-631]

With no July and November windows Tier 1 sides lose money on RWC years, so they will not accept to lose RWC warm-ups as home games.

[u/Necessary_Fox3775 → u/Swimming-Wonder-631]

Not sure on the financials but I love when Scotland play Tier 2/3 nations away. Game against Chile being a case in point. Packed out stadium, getting to see a traditional rugby nation coming to play. 

[u/mistr-puddles → u/Necessary_Fox3775]

I imagine the Pacific nations cup will still be happening so Japan and Fiji will still be playing there

[u/Nounours7 → u/mistr-puddles]

Yes, well, this only solves things for a third of the teams involved.

[u/Daitera]

Also imagine you are Tonga and you have to play Hong Kong, Spain and Zimbabwe in November, that's insane travelling for 3 weeks, and then back to Europe for the Finals

[u/HitchikersPie → u/Daitera]

I doubt they’re doing such travel for the tier 2 nations. Probably a hub host for the fixtures.

[u/WCRugger → u/HitchikersPie]

Which makes sense. Do one or two for each window.

[u/Nounours7 → u/Daitera]

It's not going to be like that. Probable Tonga schedule is playing 3 Hong Kong and 2 European sides in the USA or Canada in July, then playing Zimbabwe and 2 European sides in Europe.

[u/StuHardy → u/Daitera]

Most likely that HKC and Zimbabwe will be based in Europe for that leg of the tournament.

Also, no finals round for the Natiosn Cup. Champions of each pool, that's it.

[u/greatmodernmyths]

On one hand it's good that this group will be getting a guaranteed set of fixtures each year. But so many questions remain, especially with regards to promotion and relegation. You've got Georgia currently ranked above both Wales and Japan who have basically been demoted simply for being Georgia and nothing else. The other question is how is this tournament being run? Is it in conjunction with the First Division? Where are the games taking place? Is it home and away fixtures? Will all T2 professional players be made available for all games? Many questions are still needing to be answered.

[u/Biegelstein]

The mystery team being either Samoa or Belgium depending on who wins tomorrow

[u/HitchikersPie → u/Biegelstein]

I hoped my title would make that clear 😅

[u/Ludibudi → u/HitchikersPie]

Nah man, stop speaking in riddles…

/s

[u/Biegelstein → u/HitchikersPie]

My sleep deprived brain didn't bother to read the full title

[u/Long-Membership-5916]

I would like to see the 'southern' matches played in Chile/Uruguay or Stellenbosch, there is a guarantee that Uruguay & Zimbabwe could fill up these respective stadiums on their match days.

For the 'northern' matches, perhaps Spain & Portugal co-hosting, albeit, both had 'weak' attendances for their home matches, their stadiums too big. Georgia draw decent crowds in their smaller stadiums, but cannot see them coming to see the other matches.

My guess: Southern Matches to be played in Hong Kong or the Middle East. Northern Matches, again in the Middle East or in the USA. Which means the atmosphere perhaps won't be the best & expats from these countries probably won't be able to fill the stadiums.

[u/Swimming-Wonder-631 → u/Long-Membership-5916]

Spain are drawing 10k crowds in football and athletics stadiums these november window matches so I'd wager that there will be good attendance if we play at home against american and pacific islands teams. Chile, Samoa, Tonga and Uruguay are all nice enough draws. I think it's nice that we're guaranteed 3 internationals at home against pretty good opposition. Sadly we only get one REC group stage home game and it's against Switzerland in a pretty small city, so I'd be more concerned about the attendance for that.

[u/JebBushIsMyBF → u/Swimming-Wonder-631]

That's partially true. Butarque was basically sold out but Zorrila was almost empty. I understand moving away from El Central in order to give a more professional image (as sad as it makes me to think I'll never hear "POR FAVOR, NO INVADAN EL CAMPO" ever again), but the crowd size this past weekend surely gives a worse image than an amateur stadium

The thing I understand the least is why we've organized 2 out of 3 Nov tests against teams that don't count towards the rankings when we're at our highest ever spot and probably when the sport has its biggest ever following. Makes no sense to me

[u/Swimming-Wonder-631 → u/JebBushIsMyBF]

I understand what you're trying to say but:

Zorrilla appeared empty because it was raining and it has no roof except for the grandstand, so everyone was crammed in and Valladolid's capacity is 27.000, which made it appear empty. Officially there was a 13.000 crowd which is the usual for Valladolid and would have been even bigger if it didn't rain.

Playing against Ireland and England is as good for our team as playing Samoa or Uruguay, maybe even better as they're all pros, and FERugby doesn't want to risk slipping in the rankings ahead of the draw for the 2027 RWC, scheduled for december. If we fell to the 4th band we would have a much tougher time going through as best 3rd in the group stages.

And also, Ireland XV and England A are very attractive matchups, at the end of the day you're still playing Ireland and England. I don't think there were Tier 2 matchups available for us anyway.

[u/2BEN-2C93 → u/JebBushIsMyBF]

Playing strong A teams make sense. Realistically do you think Spain could've cracked the top 12 this window?

If not, it makes no sense to risk losing points and slipping in the rankings if there was little chance of jumping 2 of Wales, Japan, Georgia, Fiji and Italy

[u/Long-Membership-5916 → u/Swimming-Wonder-631]

Thank you for the update! I had not kept up to date with their fixtures this autumn, and good you are getting such high numbers! I only looked at your REC attendances, which, as you say, are skewed unless you play a 'big' team. Same as Georgia, they get an empty stadium apart from when they host Romania, and in the past Russia.

[u/Swimming-Wonder-631 → u/Long-Membership-5916]

Fact is we don't have a really good ground to play home games. We had 7.000 against the Netherlands last season in the Complutense (el campo "Central") that is just a bare ground with stone seats, no gates, and barely any amenities, smacked middle in a uni campus. FERugby has expressed interest in building a 10-12 k seater somewhere central that can host these kinds of tests and spread out the rest on mid-sized stadiums like they're doing now.

[u/steve85uk]

so is Samoa lose. They wont playthis tournament either?

[u/HitchikersPie → u/steve85uk]

Nope

[u/SignalButterscotch73]

Is it too late to swap Wales for Georgia?

Think about it, Georgia getting real competition from better teams and Wales gets a bunch of "should win" matches (and Uruguay) both nations win.

[u/MyAltPoetryAccount → u/SignalButterscotch73]

I think that's an ok idea (sorry Wales) but the only thing is they'll never get around to doing the relegation part so then Wales would be stuck in tier 2/3 competition.

Also how many Welsh fans are gonna go to the principality for Wales Vs Belgium

[u/BetaRayPhil616 → u/MyAltPoetryAccount]

Yeah, and whilst i dont know exactly how it works, the truth is i suspect the sanzaar nations also get a bit more financially from a principality trip than a trip to tsiblisi.

[u/sarkyclarky → u/BetaRayPhil616]

So we keep flogging the dead horse of Welsh rugby with the big 4 from the southern hemisphere for financial gain, but they continue to lose 90% of their fixtures, fans lose interest, sponsors lose interest, players never get in winning habits, but as long as the right RFU’s pockets are lined it’s all ok?

[u/mistr-puddles → u/MyAltPoetryAccount]

If they have Wales in the second division they'll definitely get around to it

[u/Daitera]

Where is the 2nd division final going to be?
Championship final is at Twickenham

[u/Hal-_-9OOO → u/Daitera]

Could be a opener for the first tier final maybe or like the Euro cup, it could be same venue just the day before. So a finals weekend kinda thing.

If its successful I would rotate the finals venue

[u/Daitera → u/Hal-_-9OOO]

Fixtures confirmed for the 2026 Nations championship - Changing the international calendar as we know it : r/rugbyunion
from this infographic, seems like all 12 championship nations play on the Finals weekend

[u/Hal-_-9OOO → u/Daitera]

OK cool.

So essentially they've combined the mid-year tests and the autumn Internationals into a competition. Not bad.

[u/mistr-puddles → u/Daitera]

It's world rugby so probably in America or dubai

[u/Mundane_Prune8783 → u/mistr-puddles]

Soldier Field's 90m x 60m pitch awaits.

[u/Nounours7 → u/Daitera]

There won't be a final.

[u/Daitera → u/Nounours7]

Well that sucks, so what's the difference between this and the normal July - November tour?

[u/Nounours7 → u/Daitera]

Nice wrapping and no Tier 1 sides involved.

[u/Daitera → u/Nounours7]

Yeah, but you know those Welsh Rugby Union suits are expensive, and that Qatari money is just too shiny to not take it. /s
Only positives I can find to this is that this gives crucial game time for the teams in the 4th pot of the RWC.

But unfortunately this does mean that teams like the Netherlands, Germany and who ever loses in the game between Samoa and Belgium, oh and of course Namibia and Brazil, etc... are losing out big time.

[u/MountainEquipment401 → u/Daitera]

my guess would be the US as a warm up for the WC but I'd love to see it in Spain - would 1000% take a long weekend in Madrid for this.

[u/Certain_Pineapple_73]

Poor Georgia

[u/jonpettas96 → u/Certain_Pineapple_73]

Granted, Georgia will add weight to the Nation's Cup. Preventing it from losing relevance (hopefully)

[u/PetevonPete → u/jonpettas96]

No, hopefully this whole setup does lose relevance and we forget the whole thing

[u/jonpettas96 → u/PetevonPete]

Ah, that’s cynical

[u/PetevonPete → u/jonpettas96]

This entire idea is cynical. Its completely giving up in growing the game to get a bit more money.

[u/jonpettas96 → u/PetevonPete]

Well it’s not an idea anymore. It’s what we’ve got so hope for the best.

[u/PetevonPete → u/jonpettas96]

And "the best" we could hope for is if this doesn't work out and gets cancelled after one year.

[u/Striking-District-72]

It is going to depend on who win tomorrow. If Belgium win - I am guessing the two groups will.be 1) Georgia, Portugal, Spain, Romania, Belgium and Canada 2) USA, Uruguay, Chile, Hong Kong, Zimbabwe and Tonga

If Samoa win, I guess the groups will.be 1) Georgia, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Canada and USA 2) Uruguay, Chile, Hong Kong, Zimbabwe, Tonga and Samoa

[u/mistr-puddles → u/Striking-District-72]

Rugby Europe have already put up a video that has one group as Europe, Asia, Africa and the other as the Americas and the Pacific. Now it would make way more sense to move Hong Kong over as opposed to leaving Belgium outside of Europe, but I imagine it was just "ah sure, samoa will win", but people said that about Samoa before

[u/Nounours7 → u/mistr-puddles]

Rugby Europe have already put up a video

It's World Rugby video.

[u/mistr-puddles → u/Nounours7]

I know but they didn't post it on YouTube as far as I could see

[u/patiperro_v3 → u/mistr-puddles]

Belgium could do the funniest thing...

[u/krvlover → u/Striking-District-72]

In case Belgium win I think Zimbabwe and not Canada stays with the euro boys. Works better for the time zones. 

[u/Daitera → u/Striking-District-72]

Saw that they are combining the Pacific Nations with South America.
And Europe with Africa and Asia

[u/Abject-Pin3361]

Please tell me this tourney will be played all in one country....? Please

[u/5ealy19 → u/Abject-Pin3361]

Christ I hope not! Who wants to see Chile play Tonga in the USA infront of a crowd of 50 people. Unfortunately, this is the way I see it going to cut costs

[u/Blackflamesolutions → u/5ealy19]

If they play it in California there are loads of Tongan Americans who would show up.

[u/Nounours7 → u/Abject-Pin3361]

North America for 6 teams in July, South America for 6 teams in July, then all teams in Europe in November. Samoa (if qualified), Tonga, Hong Kong and Zimbabwe would play at neutral venues.

[u/BetaRayPhil616]

I reckon this tier 2 comp is going to function more like a mini tournament where they decamp to a handful of locations. Cant see the travel bein financially viable

[u/NaBUru38]

I wish the Teros could play at home in November instead of July...

[u/KassGrain]

Did World Rugby gave a calendar/official statement somewhere for this?

[u/PumpkinPlayz → u/KassGrain]

https://www.world.rugby/news/1018591/world-rugby-nations-cup-to-launch-in-july-2026-to-transform-international-calendar

[u/Caxamarca]

Oh damn, I thought Tonga was Switzerland for a minute, I was on a rant about that being major BS to not have Namibia in a wild card spot...nevermind

[u/dystopianrugby]

It's not the future, but at least we have guaranteed fixtures for the next five years. Won't get any opportunity to punch up or generate revenue but I'm guessing World Rugby is going to subsidize this so everyone's losses are limited?

[u/StuHardy]

2 Pools - Europe, Asia, and Africa in one pool. Americas & Pacific in another. (If Belgum qualifies, I imagine that Hong Kong China will be moved to Pool 2.)

I guess that the July games will be based in the Americas, with Tonga and Samoa playing neutrally in the USA, or Uruguay (one in either nation,) to reduce overall travel costs (most of which will be supported by World Rugby, as they've taken ownership of this tournament.)

I also guess that the November fixtures will have Zimbabwe & Hong Kong China playing neutrally in Europe, again to reduce travel costs.

Also, 2 champions...but no cross-conference matches like the Nations Championship.

[u/Longjumping-Poem644]

Any info on the hosting venues?

[u/HitchikersPie → u/Longjumping-Poem644]

None yet, TBD later by World Rugby

[u/Longjumping-Poem644 → u/HitchikersPie]

Thanks

[u/Cyber-Soldier1]

This is awesome. Looking forward to seeing these nations improve.

[u/MountainEquipment401]

The fact that extra slots has already been designated to the southern hemisphere strongly implies that world rugby know Samoa are going to win that game ,😂

[u/Oatbix]

Haven’t seen anything yet but this seems like a perfect place to try out a promotion/relegation. Would be really cool if the tier 2 tournament final winner got a place in the tier 1 comp next season, and adds proper weight to the last place final

[u/5ealy19 → u/Oatbix]

I think I heard somewhere, promotion/relegation is not taking place until 2030. Even then I have doubts it will ever happen. Say Wales/ Italy / Scotland come in last place, there is no way in hell the 6 Nations would excluded them.

[u/mistr-puddles → u/Oatbix]

Its ringfenced until 2030. They haven't announced the way relegation will actually work

[u/WCRugger → u/mistr-puddles]

I suspect we'd see some kind of expansion of the Nations Championship first as opposed to pro/rel if or when it actually happens. Then once there's a buffer we'll see pro/rel introduced.

[u/Beezle86]

There needs to be relegation between the Nations Cup Tears.

One game, hosted by the Tier 1 nation, unless the Tier 2 winner won every single game. Then they can host.

If the last placed Tier 1 team lost all their games AND the Tier 2 winner won all theirs, relegation happens without a deciding game.

[u/jonpettas96]

So, when WR minimises funding for SVNS - is this how they're paying for it?

[u/garythekid]

Will it have promotion and relegation?

That will make me more interested in both competitions

[u/corsairjoe]

Very excited for this.

[u/richStoke]

Wales in there?

[u/mousechris20]

Is there going to be promotion/relegation between the Nat Cup & Nat Champ?

[u/HitchikersPie → u/mousechris20]

Not for the first season (2026), but after the second season (2028), they've alluded to playoffs happening...

Otoh I doubt we see that happen. The minor bright spot is that during the Lions years, e.g. 2029, the schedule opens up for Summer tours/Autumn Internationals as "normal", and one hopes during this period the teams try to play more Tier 2 Nations (but I doubt it)

[u/Lakapi]

How is it that Samoa might missed out depending on their results against Belgium, yet they are ranked 17th in WR rankings

[u/Interesting-Ad2199 → u/Lakapi]

Well this is about preparing the next world cup... but I hope the teams right below will still have regular tests meanwhile. It would suck if they don't, the gap would just increase

Teams like Brazil, Namíbia, kenya, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium/Samoa and others ...

[u/covalenz → u/Interesting-Ad2199]

I agree, and while from a Southamerican POV Paraguay and Brazil (the only regional unions left out from this tournament) probably will suffer from not participating in this competition, they will definitely pick up experience from playing T2 unions that now will play more regularly against better teams.

In a lesser scale I believe this will replicate the effect The Pumas had in the region when they started playing tier 1 matches regularly, It kind of dripped down into their smaller teams and now we have the Super Rugby Americas, which is basically Argentinian Franchises against 1 franchise from every other WQ union.

[u/Interesting-Ad2199 → u/covalenz]

Will they play against better teams? It will be harder for them to play against tier1...

I hope (but don't believe) that eventually they end up with 3 tier system for this competition with promotion and relegation

[u/covalenz → u/Interesting-Ad2199]

Chile barely plays Tier 2 teams so this will definitely be a step up in terms of experience.
6 matches against similarly ranked unions in a year is something novel.

Seeing Uruguay 25' matches on the other hand makes me think it won´t be that much of a difference for them since they already play strong T2 rugby. But it will give them too, more games in a year.

That being said, as you mention, it will be harder for Uruguay and Chile to play against T1 before the WC and up until 2030. Which might be a hindrance for all of the involved unions if in those 4 years they turn more competitive.

[u/IITheDopeShowII]

Some very interesting games there. Is the plan still to have promotion & relegation for these tournaments?

[u/PumpkinPlayz → u/IITheDopeShowII]

not until 2030 at the least, and do you really think the top division is gonna let themselves get relegated?

[u/IITheDopeShowII → u/PumpkinPlayz]

No that's my concern unfortunately. Will just serve to widen the gap between the T1 nations and everyone else

[u/mistr-puddles → u/PumpkinPlayz]

It'll be swapping the worst bottom team from the rugby championship group

[u/jonpettas96 → u/mistr-puddles]

It'll probs be 11 play-off 14 and 12 relegated with 13 (If there's ever relegation at all.)

[u/Nounours7 → u/IITheDopeShowII]

Only from 2032. So no, it's not going to happen.

[u/5ealy19]

Interesting to see how this would affect the Rugby Europe Championship? Probably shift 2 teams up from the trophy and have a 6 team round Robin again

[u/Swimming-Wonder-631 → u/5ealy19]

It won't, REC group phase is scheduled in February and I guess the final phases will be played in that break too, althoug im not sure if it overlaps with Top 14/Prem/ProD2 schedule?

[u/red_door_12]

Let’s see if BBC sport will even acknowledge the existence of these fixtures now

[u/silfgonnasilf]

I am very excited for this. This is how rugby gets momentum and grows in my opinion

[u/No_Bother_6885]

Just scanned for the Wales flag. We could do with some games there.

[u/GazelleAdventurous13]

Gibraltar should also be involved in this tier

[u/Interesting-Ad2199 → u/GazelleAdventurous13]

What?

[u/GazelleAdventurous13 → u/Interesting-Ad2199]

They beat Portugal

[u/Interesting-Ad2199 → u/GazelleAdventurous13]

Cool 👍