Wales to kick off Nations Championship return with three Cardiff Tests and Twickenham play-off

Wales will begin their international season next weekend when they return to the Nations Championship in Cardiff, opening with a home Test against Japan at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, 7 November. Steve Tandy's side will play three home fixtures in Cardiff before completing their November schedule with a play-off weekend at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham.

The Nations Championship pairs the Six Nations northern teams with southern hemisphere sides and invited nations, with each northern team playing the six teams from the opposite hemisphere once. England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and Italy face South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina plus invited Fiji and Japan across three rounds staged in July and a further three rounds in November. The autumn fixtures also begin the road to the 2027 World Cup in Australia, and results from the full set of matches will rank teams within each hemisphere ahead of a final play-off weekend.

Wales enter the November block lying fifth in the northern hemisphere standings after their July campaign, which featured a 39-24 win over Fiji at the Cardiff City Stadium, a 35-21 defeat by Argentina in San Juan and a 43-0 loss to South Africa in Durban. Their November programme in Cardiff comprises Wales v Japan (Principality Stadium, Cardiff, 7 November, 16:40 GMT), Wales v New Zealand (Principality Stadium, Cardiff, 14 November, 14:10 GMT) and Wales v Australia (Principality Stadium, Cardiff, 21 November, 20:10 GMT).

Steve Tandy has been Wales head coach since September 2025 and has named a 39-strong group for the November Tests. Uncapped Dragons duo Aneurin Owen and Che Hope, and Cardiff prop Rhys Barrett were included, with hooker Dewi Lake retained as captain; Tandy also recalled Dragons lock Seb Davies and Cardiff number eight Taine Basham for the first time since he took charge. Dragons wing Rio Dyer was initially recalled but was ruled out with a hamstring injury and replaced by uncapped Scarlets back Macs Page, while Leicester flanker Tommy Reffell, scrum-half Kieran Hardy and veteran number eight Taulupe Faletau were notable absentees due to injury or other reasons.

Fifteen of the selected players are based outside Wales, with 14 playing in England and Montpellier lock Adam Beard based in France. Forwards named were: Rhys Barratt, Rhys Carre, Nicky Smith, Gareth Thomas, Dewi Lake (capt), Liam Belcher, Ryan Elias, Tomas Francis, Archie Griffin, Dillon Lewis, Adam Beard, Ben Carter, Seb Davies, Dafydd Jenkins, Teddy Williams, Taine Basham, James Botham, Kane James, Alex Mann, Jac Morgan, Taine Plumtree, Aaron Wainwright. Backs named were: Che Hope, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Tomos Williams, Sam Costelow, Dan Edwards, Joe Hawkins, Louie Hennessey, Eddie James, Max Llewellyn, Aneurin Owen, Josh Adams, Macs Page, Gabriel Hamer-Webb, Ellis Mee, Blair Murray, Louis Rees-Zammit, Tom Rogers.

Early indications suggest there could be empty seats at the Principality Stadium this autumn, with the WRU website showing a significant number of tickets still available for the three home matches. The first test will test whether Wales can match the 61,000 crowd that attended the 24-23 win against Japan 12 months ago; the article notes Wales should expect a sellout against New Zealand given the favourable Saturday mid-afternoon kick-off time, while the late evening start for the Australia fixture may present challenges. The attendances will provide an insight into whether the upheaval in Welsh rugby has affected interest or whether apathy is setting in.

The Wales squad and players are operating amid domestic uncertainty as the WRU remains determined to cut either the Ospreys or Scarlets by 2028. An annual general meeting is scheduled for the day after Wales play Australia and a rugby summit featuring the professional sides will be staged in December; the WRU has said ticket sales form more than 50% of its annual turnover and the union announced an £18m loss earlier this month.

The Nations Championship concludes with a three-day play-off event staged at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham, where teams are paired by their hemisphere rankings to produce six matches across the weekend. The article sets out that on Friday evening the sixth-placed and third-place finishers will face each other, Saturday will see the fifth-place and second-place matches, and Sunday will feature the fourth-placed sides before the top seeds meet in the final to determine the inaugural Nations Championship winner. The play-off weekend also carries a Ryder Cup-style hemisphere title: each match victory earns one point for its hemisphere except the top-seed contest, which delivers two, and the first hemisphere to reach four points will be crowned winners. The listed play-off fixtures and times are: Sixth-place North v Sixth-place South (16:40 GMT), Third-place North v Third-place South (20:10 GMT), Fifth-place North v Fifth-place South (13:10 GMT), Second-place North v Second-place South (16:40 GMT), Fourth-place North v Fourth-place South (13:10 GMT), First-place North v First-place South (16:40 GMT).

Wales begin their November campaign against Japan at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, 7 November at 16:40 GMT.