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Tom Hamilton, Senior Writer
London is the leading candidate to host the first final of the Nations Cup in 2026, sources have confirmed to ESPN.
The new biennial tournament — the name of which is yet to be confirmed — will launch in 2026 and will see the best nations in Europe face off against their southern hemisphere counterparts.
The playoff tournament is set to take place in London, with the Allianz Stadium at Twickenham the favourite to host the final, according to ESPN sources.
The 2028 edition is likely to be outside “core rugby territories,” according to a source, with a view to taking the sport to “broader audiences.”
Qatar has been suggested but tournament organisers are looking at a range of options for 2028. Tournament organisers are not yet looking beyond 2028 for prospective hosts, a source confirmed.
The tournament will see teams split into two pools. The six European nations (Italy, France, England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland) will face each of the six from the rest of the world contingent (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina and likely Japan and Fiji) across the traditional July and November Test windows.
The two top-ranked teams from each conference will then face each other in a grand final in November.
Qatar were original favourites to host the first four finals and reportedly offered a guaranteed return of £800 million but powerbrokers from the Six Nations were keen for the first edition of the Nations Cup to be hosted in an established rugby nation.
“The unsolicited bid from Qatar came in quite a long time ago,” RFU CEO Bill Sweeney said in September. “Both Six Nations and Sanzaar took a long time to evaluate it. There were certain aspects of it that we were concerned with.
“For the inaugural final weekends of a tournament that we think has got huge potential to grow value and fan interest going forward, [we thought] perhaps it should be in a more accessible environment, and maybe in an area where there is an established rugby market.
“That was a conversation. It doesn’t preclude going to another foreign destination at another time, whether that is in 2028, or the United States in 2030 the year before the World Cup.
“I think the decisions were all taken for the right reasons. There is still the commitment there for the Nations Cup. It was more about, ‘what do we think is the right destination for the inaugural finals weekend?'”