RUGBY UNION - NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP
2026
Round 1 - France (32) @ (34) New Zealand - The tournament kicked off with one of the best match-ups at the One NZ Stadium in Canterbury. Despite a slow start, the All Blacks went in at the break with a 19-13 lead. The 2nd half ended up with each team answering the others scores until the final 20 minutes, when New Zealand managed to push ahead by 9 points. France scored late to pull within 2 points but the All Blacks Defense saw out the game and claimed the win. The New Zealand tries came from Will Jordan (2), Peter Lakai and Cam Roigard (2). The France tries came from Damian Penaud, Antoine Hastoy, Theo Attisogbe and Matthieu Jalibert. France were missing 2 of their stars ; Antoine Dupont and Louis Bielle-Biarrey (9, 2 Discs, ITV - Owen/Kayser, PAL)
Round 1 - England (21) @ (45) South Africa - England visited Ellis Park in Durban hoping to put a terrible 6 Nations behind them, but the Springboks piled on the misery with a dominant win. South Africa ran out to a 17-point lead inside 11 minutes, and were dominant in all phases, but England fought back to only be down by 3 points at the break, 17-14. The 2nd half started as a repeat of the 1st half, with the Springboks scoring 2 quick tries, but this time England's discipline let them down and a succession of penalties and yellow cards denied them any chance of a comeback and the Boks pulled away for the win. The South Africa tries came from Thomas du Toit, Cheslin Kolbe, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Grant Williams, Jesse Kriel, Malcolm Marx and Ben-Jason Dixon. South Africa were missing Eben Etzebeth and Siya Kolisi to injury. The England tries came from Ellis Genge, George Martin and Alex Coles with Fin Smith adding 6 points with the boot (9, 2 Discs, ITV - Mullins/Flatman/Ojo, PAL)
Round 3 - England (31) @ (24) Argentina - 3 days after Argentina defeated England's football team in a feisty game at the World Cup semi-finals, the Pumas decided to follow suit at a raucous Santiago del Estero stadium, and attempted to rough up England. The game had 8 tries, 7 yellow cards and a sideline bust-up, all topped off when the TMO ruled out a game-tieing try for Argentina in the 83rd minute that prompted the crowd to call the referee a "Thief". The England tries came from Tommy Freeman, Ben Earl (2), Marcus Smith and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso with Fin Smith adding 6 points with the boot. The Argentina tries came from Santiago Carreras, Justo Piccardo and a Penalty Try with Tomas Albornoz adding 7 points with the boot. The Pumas wore replicas of the football team's 1986 World Cup kit (9, No Post-Game, 2 Discs, ITV - Mullins/Flatman, PAL)