The Nations Championship gets under way again - here is everything you need to know

With silverware on the line, international rugby returns as the 2026 Nations Championship enters its northern hemisphere leg.

The weekend’s action began on Friday night in Dublin, with Argentina the visitors to the Aviva Stadium, before continuing across Europe on Saturday and Sunday, with Wales among the teams looking to make an impression on home soil.

There are four games in total on Saturday, with one on Sunday.

Here is everything you need to know about this weekend's fixtures and how to watch.

What channel is the Nations Championship on?

ITV have exclusive rights to every Nations Championship 2026 game.

Matches will either be shown on ITV1 of ITV4 over the next few weeks, with Wales matches also shown on S4C.

All of the matches will be available on the ITVX streaming service, as well as the broadcaster’s terrestrial channels.

ITVX is free to use, but you’ll need to complete a short registration to access the service. You also require a valid TV Licence to stream live TV in the UK.

Games on S4C can be streamed using the S4C Clic app or on BBC iPlayer.

Fixtures and kick-off times

Italy v South Africa

Saturday, November 7, 11.40am KO, ITV1. Coverage starts at 11am.

Italy face a formidable challenge against the reigning world champions South Africa in Turin. The Springboks’ physical strength, depth and experience make them a difficult opponent, but Italy will be hoping to produce a competitive performance in front of their home supporters.

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

Replacements: 16. Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 17. Danilo Fischetti, 18. Ion Neculai, 19. Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi, 20. Ross Vincent, 21. Manuel Zuliani, 22. Stephen Varney, 23. Tommaso Allan

South Africa: 15. Damian Willemse; 14. Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13. Jesse Kriel, 12. Damian De Allende, 11. Ethan Hooker, 10. Sasha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9. Morne Van Den Berg, 8. Jasper Wiese, 7. Pieter-Steph Du Toit, 6. Siya Kolisi (C), 5. Ruan Nortje, 4. Salmaan Moerat, 3. Thomas Du Toit, 2. Malcolm Marx, 1. Ox Niche

Replacements: 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

Saturday, November 7, 2.10pm KO, ITV1 and STV. Coverage starts at 1.40pm.

Scotland face one of the biggest challenges of the weekend when they welcome New Zealand to Murrayfield.

The All Blacks remain one of the most successful sides in international rugby, bringing a combination of physicality, speed and attacking quality to Edinburgh.

Scotland, meanwhile, will be hoping to use their home advantage and attacking talent to challenge the visitors. They will need to limit mistakes against a New Zealand side who are renowned for punishing defensive errors.

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

Replacements: 16 Gregor Hiddleston, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 George Horne, 22 Tom Jordan, 23 Blair Kinghorn

New Zealand: 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

Replacements: 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

Saturday, November 7, 4.40pm KO, ITV1 and S4C. Coverage starts at 4.20pm on ITV and 4pm on S4C.

For Welsh supporters, the biggest fixture of the weekend takes place at the Principality Stadium, as Wales welcome Japan.

It is the first of three consecutive home fixtures for Steve Tandy’s side, who are also set to face New Zealand and Australia later this month.

Wales enter the November series looking to respond following a mixed summer campaign. Their July results included a 39-24 victory over Fiji in Cardiff, before defeats against Argentina (35-21) and South Africa (43-0).

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

Replacements: 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, 4 Harry Hockings, 3 Shuhei Takeuchi, 2 Mamoru Harada, 1 Yota Kamimori.

Replacements: 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

Saturday, November 7, 8.10pm KO, ITV1. Coverage starts at 7 .30pm.

France take on Fiji in what has the potential to be an entertaining encounter. Both nations possess exciting attacking players and the ability to create opportunities from open play.

Fiji’s unpredictable style and individual attacking quality could cause problems for the French defence, although France will be confident nonetheless given their recent form.

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 Gross

Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Jefferson Poirot, 18 Régis Montagne, 19 Charles Ollivon, 20 Tom Staniforth, 21 Esteban Capilla, 22 Maxime Lucu, 23 Emilien 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

Replacements: 16 Zuriel Togiatama, 17 Peni Ravai, 18 Inoke Ravuiwasa, 19 Peceli Yato, 20 Elia Canakaivata, 21 Frank Lomani, 22 Ben Volavola, 23 Sireli Maqala

England v Australia

Sunday, November 8, 3.10pm KO, ITV1. Coverage starts at 2 pm.

England will round off the weekend’s fixtures when they take on Australia at Allianz Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Australia arrive in London looking to make their mark in the competition, while England will be hoping to use home advantage to secure an important result.

The Wallabies can threaten opponents with their pace and attacking ambition, meaning England will need to maintain defensive discipline throughout the contest.

England: 15 George Furbank, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Ollie Chessum, 5 Alex Coles, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Jamie George, 1 Fin Baxter

Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Will Stuart, 19 George Martin, 20 Greg Fisilau, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Ben Spencer, 23 Marcus Smith

Australia: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Max Jorgensen, 13 Isaac Henry, 12 Len Ikitau, 11 Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 10 Declan Meredith, 9 Ryan Lonergan, 8 Harry Wilson (captain), 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Jeremy Williams, 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 4 Josh Canham, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Billy Pollard, and 1 Angus Bell.

Replacements: 16 Josh Nasser, 17 Isaac Kailea, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Rob Valetini, 20 Carlo Tizzano, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Ben Donaldson, 23 Filipo Daugunu.