Why New Zealand fans are the big losers when All Blacks kick off Nations Championship in 2026

Tuesday, 18 November 2025

Scott Hansen said there was still 'deep hurt' after losing to England and seeing their Grand Slam hopes vanish.

ANALYSIS: The new Nations Championship will finally bring some added meaning to cross-hemisphere test matches, but New Zealand fans are set to be the big losers when the All Blacks kick off the new competition next year.

Fixtures were this week confirmed for the inaugural 2026 event, and New Zealand Rugby look to have a tough sell on their hands next winter, in a period featuring a much-reduced home schedule for the national side.

Already enduring a shaky time of it through his first two years in charge, coach Scott Robertson has had 11 of his first 27 tests staged on Kiwi soil (one other last year against Fiji was moved to San Diego).

But across the next two seasons, spanning a 34-month period from September 2025 to July 2028, the men in black are set to play only eight times in front of their own fans.

Typically in non-World Cup years the All Blacks have played six tests at home, but in each of the next two years that will drop to four.

Next year there will be three in July in the Nations Championship ‘Southern Series’, against France, Italy and Ireland, and a Bledisloe Cup clash against the Wallabies in October, thanks to the Rugby Championship being replaced by the All Blacks’ much-anticipated tour to South Africa.

New Zealand fans are going to have less opportunity to attend All Blacks matches over the next two seasons.

Then in 2027 the Rugby Championship returns (three home games), but to be played earlier in July-August, in place of the Nations Championship, due to the World Cup in Australia in October-November. The All Blacks are likely to play one other test at home as a warm-up to the global showpiece.

While NZR’s coffers won’t be unduly hit due to a strong revenue-sharing arrangement with South Africa for the ‘Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry’ tour, the All Blacks are certainly going to be less visible and accessible locally the next couple of years, with Kiwi fans having less opportunity to attend matches.

At a time when the national side is producing far from compelling performances, NZR may be inclined to lean into that narrative of there being limited chances to see the team in action, particularly given what might get dished up on the 2026 menu for fans here.

For all the Italians’ recent improvement, the world No 10 will not be one to get fans hurriedly reaching for the wallet to buy tickets. Then there’s the big question over whether France will, as they did this year, send out a ‘B’ team for these games due to the importance placed on their club competition. The Irish, meanwhile, have shown signs they are a fading force.

And then there’s the Bledisloe clash, which could well prove to be a nothing game if it is staged second and the All Blacks duly do the business across the ditch.

Venues for those four home matches in 2026 are still to be announced, but it’s understood the opening fixture, on July 4 against France, is being lined up as the maiden international for One New Zealand Stadium in Christchurch, in what will be just the second test in the Garden City in 10 years.

Auckland’s Eden Park and Wellington’s Sky Stadium will presumably split the Wallabies and Ireland tests, while it wouldn’t surprise for the Italy game if Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium, which has hosted a test each of the last five years, and Hamilton’s FMG Stadium Waikato, which hosted one this year for the first time since 2022, are overlooked in favour of New Plymouth’s revamped Stadium Taranaki, which hasn’t staged a test since 2017.

All Blacks’ 2026 schedule (dates local time)

Nations Championship Southern Series (venues TBA)****

Sat Jul 4: v France

Sat Jul 11: v Italy

Sat Jul 18: v Ireland

Tour of South Africa

Fri Aug 7: v Stormers, Cape Town

Tue Aug 11: v Sharks, Durban

Sat Aug 15: v Bulls, Pretoria

Sat Aug 22: v Springboks, Johannesburg (Ellis Park)

Tue Aug 25: v Lions, Johannesburg (Ellis Park)

Sat Aug 29: v Springboks, Cape Town

Sat Sep 5: v Springboks, Johannesburg (FNB Stadium)

Sat Sep 12: v Springboks, neutral venue TBA

Bledisloe Cup (dates/venues TBA)

October: v Wallabies home and away

Nations Championship Northern Series

Sat Nov 8: v Scotland

Sat Nov 15: v Wales

Sat Nov 22: v England

Fri-Sun Nov 28-30: Finals weekend, London (Twickenham)