After an enthralling opening chapter in July, the Nations Championship returns this weekend, bringing the best of Northern and Southern Hemisphere rugby back together for the next instalment of the inaugural competition.

Twelve of the world’s leading rugby nations will continue to compete in the new biennial tournament, with every point and result contributing towards the final standings.

For South African supporters, however, the immediate excitement centres on the return of the Springboks, who begin the second leg of their campaign against Italy in Turin on Saturday. 

That encounter is the first during a ‘Super Saturday’ of Test rugby, which will conclude around midnight after the penultimate Nations Championship battle of the weekend between France and Fiji.

THE WEEKEND’S NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP FIXTURES and team sheets

All kick-off times are South African time (SAST)

Friday, 6 November

Ireland v Argentina – 22:10

IRELAND – 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Mack Hansen, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Sean Jansen, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Ryan Baird, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan (c), 1 Andrew Porter.
Bench: 16 Rónan Kelleher, 17 Tom O’Toole, 18 Sam Illo, 19 James Ryan, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Bundee Aki.

ARGENTINA – 15 Juan Cruz Mallía, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Justo Piccardo, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Tomás Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo García, 8 Pablo Matera, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Juan Martín González, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Francisco Moreno, 2 Julián Montoya (c), 1 Boris Wenger.
Bench: 16 Leonel Oviedo, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Ephraim Elias, 20 Juan Martín Scelzo, 21 Simón Benítez Cruz, 22 Gerónimo Prisciantelli, 23 Lucio Cinti.

Saturday, 7 November

Italy v South Africa – 13:40

ITALY – 15 Mirko Belloni, 14 Ange Capuozzo, 13 Paolo Odogwu, 12 Leonardo Marin, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Samuele Locatelli, 6 Alessandro Ortombina, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera (c), 1 Muhamed Hasa.
Bench: 16 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Ion Neculai, 19 Enoch Opoku Gyamfi, 20 Ross Vintcent, 21 Manuel Zuliani, 22 Stephen Varney, 23 Tommaso Allan.

SPRINGBOKS – 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Ruan Nortjé, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nché.
Bench: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Cameron Hanekom, 21 Paul de Villiers, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Manie Libbok.

Scotland v New Zealand – 16:10

SCOTLAND – 15 Kyle Rowe, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (c), 11 Jamie Dobie, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Gregor Brown, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Rory Sutherland.
Bench: 16 Gregor Hiddleston, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 George Horne, 22 Tom Jordan, 23 Blair Kinghorn.

ALL BLACKS – 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Quinn Tupaea, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Josh Moorby, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Wallace Sititi, 7 Peter Lakai, 6 Tupou Vaa’i, 5 Fabian Holland, 4 Scott Barrett, 3 Fletcher Newell, 2 Codie Taylor (c), 1 Ethan de Groot.
Bench: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 George Bower, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Christian Lio-Willie, 20 Anton Segner, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Timoci Tavatavanawai, 23 Rieko Ioane.

Wales v Japan – 18:40

WALES – 15 Blair Murray, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Eddie James, 12 Max Llewellyn, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Jac Morgan, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Ben Carter, 4 Dafydd Jenkins, 3 Archie Griffin, 2 Dewi Lake (c), 1 Nicky Smith.
Bench: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Rhys Carré, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 James Botham, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Dan Edwards, 23 Louie Hennessey.

JAPAN – 15 Kazuma Ueda, 14 Kippei Ishida, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Samisoni Tua, 11 Inoke Burua, 10 Riku Kitahara, 9 Naoto Saito, 8 Jack Cornelsen, 7 Kanji Shimokawa, 6 Ben Gunter, 5 Warner Dearns (c), 4 Harry Hockings, 3 Shuhei Takeuchi, 2 Mamoru Harada, 1 Yota Kamimori.
Bench: 16 Kenji Sato, 17 Sojiro Otsuka, 18 Opeti Helu, 19 Michael Stolberg, 20 Tiennan Costley, 21 Kenta Fukuda, 22 Shinya Komura, 23 Jisu Lee.

France v Fiji – 22:10

FRANCE – 15 Théo Attissogbe, 14 Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, 13 Kalvin Gourgues, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Romain Ntamack, 9 Antoine Dupont (c), 8 François Cros, 7 Paul Boudehent, 6 Cameron Woki, 5 Mickaël Guillard, 4 Florian Verhaeghe, 3 Sipili Falatea, 2 Maxime Lamothe, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros.
Bench: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Jefferson Poirot, 18 Régis Montagne, 19 Charles Ollivon, 20 Tom Staniforth, 21 Esteban Capilla, 22 Maxime Lucu, 23 Émilien Gailleton.

FIJI – 15 Salesi Rayasi, 14 Selestino Ravutaumada, 13 Iosefo Masi, 12 Vinaya Habosi, 11 Jiuta Wainiqolo, 10 Isikeli Rabitu, 9 Simione Kuruvoli, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Kitione Salawa, 6 Pita-Gus Sowakula, 5 Isoa Nasilasila, 4 Mesake Vocevoce, 3 Luke Tagi, 2 Tevita Ikanivere (c), 1 Eroni Mawi.
Bench: 16 Zuriel Togiatama, 17 Peni Ravai, 18 Inoke Ravuiwasa, 19 Peceli Yato, 20 Elia Canakaivata, 21 Frank Lomani, 22 Ben Volavola, 23 Sireli Maqala.

Nations Championship: Sunday, 8 November

England v Australia – 17:10

ENGLAND – TBC

WALLABIES – TBC