Joe Schmidt reacts to Springboks v All Blacks tours and backs controversial Nations Championship
Joe Schmidt has backed the controversial Nations Championship and reacts to the All Blacks and Springboks tours.
Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt has reacted to the news that the Springboks and All Blacks are close to finalising a deal that will see the return of traditional tours.
New Zealand Rugby and SA Rugby have been locked in talks to finalise the tour dubbed as the ‘Greatest Rugby Rivalry’, with the first edition set to take place in South Africa in 2026.
The All Blacks would play eight games in total on tour in South Africa, including four games against the URC teams, a match against SA’A and three Tests against the Springboks – with a fourth to be played outside the Republic, possibly in the USA or London and would be an outliner.
This would result in a truncated, which already occurs in Rugby World Cup years. It would also leave Australia and Argentina with fewer Test matches that year, which they would need to fill.
Joe Schmidt’s reaction
After naming his team to face Argentina in round four of the Rugby Championship, Schmidt was asked for his reaction to the news and whether it meant that Australia were becoming a second-class nation and what this tour would mean for the Wallabies.
“It’s a tough question because it’s a real mix at World Rugby at the moment with the different competitions and agreements that exist,” Schmidt explained.
“The Six Nations is such a solidified competition that the northern hemisphere have and it’s a very exclusive club there – I know talking to the Georgian coaches, they’d love to have a crack at getting into that competition.
“At the same time, it’s [the tour] not going to replace the Rugby Championship as far as I know it is going to continue but it will be truncated in that year.”
Springboks v All Blacks: Traditional tours edge ever closer to returning in 2026
But Schmidt was also quick to bring up the Nations Championship which is set to debut in 2026, a tournament that he is backing as he believes that it will increase the interest in rugby union.
The new global competition for men’s international rugby will occupy the existing men’s July and November windows from 2026 and will be a biennial tournament. It will comprise of a top division of 12 teams (Six Nations unions, SANZAAR unions and two further unions), and a second division run by World Rugby of 12 teams with promotion and relegation commencing from 2030.
“There’s also a fair bit of planning and preparation around the Nations Championship that I think is potentially a fantastic competition that may be biennial,” Schmidt added.
“It may be that the teams from the southern hemisphere accumulate points versus the northern hemisphere accumulate points and you get crossovers and you end up with a championship during the November series.
“So that’s that’s another potential outcome that I think, energises interest in the game.”
The end of the Rugby Championship?
There are concerns that the All Blacks and Springboks tours will spell the end of the Rugby Championship but Schmidt is not convinced particularly considering the huge turn-outs for Wallabies games this year.
“Well, we had great crowds for two games, I think a total of about 110,000 people came to two games in Australia,” he said.
“It was sold out in La Plata but I’m not sure everyone took their seat there because I haven’t seen games played in storms like that very often.
“They’re expecting a bumper crowd here in Santa Fe as well on Saturday, so I think local interest is still really high and so you’d expect that in itself to be evidence that the competition still holds some sway with rugby fans.”
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