The All Blacks' opponents for the first round-robin section of the inaugural Nations Championship, which starts in July next year, have been confirmed as France, Italy and Ireland.
The three nations were widely signalled to be travelling to New Zealand next year to kick off World Rugby's new competition, which is designed to maximise revenue and add meaning to the global Test season.
The venues are yet to be announced, but 1News understands that Christchurch's new stadium, Te Kaha, which will hold its first significant rugby game next April during Super Rugby's "super round", will likely hold one Test.
Given Eden Park's capacity to generate revenue, it will almost certainly host Ireland, who now qualify as one of the All Blacks' fiercest rivals.
The format will have Northern Hemisphere teams travelling south in July to play three Tests against New Zealand, Australia, Argentina and South Africa, with the southern teams travelling north in November to continue the round robin with three more Tests.
New Zealand will play Scotland, Wales and England in their away fixtures.
Apart from the four Sanzaar nations and Six Nations teams, Japan and Fiji will also compete on behalf of the Southern Hemisphere.
The competition, held every other year, will conclude in late November with a three-day finals weekend at Twickenham in which the top-placed southern team will play the top northern outfit. All 12 nations will be involved. The finals weekend venue will vary.
“The establishment of the Nations Championship is an historic and exciting move for rugby that will see the Sanzaar member unions, with the addition of Fiji and Japan, take on the best of Europe and the Northern Hemisphere on a biennial basis," Sanzaar chief executive Brendan Morris said.
Nations Championship fixtures
Southern Series
July 4-5: Argentina v Scotland, Australia v Ireland, Fiji v Wales, Japan v Italy, New Zealand v France, South Africa v England
July 11-12: Argentina v Wales, Australia v France, Fiji v England, Japan v Ireland, New Zealand v Italy, South Africa v Scotland
July 18-19: Argentina v England, Australia v Italy, Fiji v Scotland, Japan v France, New Zealand v Ireland, South Africa v Wales
Northern Series
November 7-8: England v Australia, France v Fiji, Ireland v Argentina, Italy v South Africa, Scotland v New Zealand, Wales v Japan
November 14-15: England v Japan, France v South Africa, Ireland v Fiji, Italy v Argentina, Scotland v Australia, Wales v New Zealand
November 21-22: England v New Zealand, France v Argentina, Ireland v South Africa, Italy v Fiji, Scotland v Japan, Wales v Australia
Finals weekend
November 28-30: North 6 v South 6, North 5 v South 5, North 4 v South 4, North 3 v South 3, North 2 v South 2, North 1 v South 1
The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including weather warnings back in force, a spate of suspicious fires in Dunedin, and the stoush over vegemite in prison. (Source: 1News)
SHARE ME