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England, Ireland, Wales and Fiji grouped together in new Autumn tournament - reports
By Online Editors
England, Ireland, Wales and Fiji will face each other in Group 1 of a new eight-team tournament which will take the place of the Autumn Tests this year, according to reports. The new tournament is penned in for a November 14 start date, just weeks after the suspended 2020 Six Nations fixtures are set to be completed.
As reported by the BBC, the new tournament will see Japan and Fiji join the Six Nations teams in a two-group format, and will replace the original Test schedule which featured the likes of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa coming to Europe.
The suspended Six Nations season is due to be completed on the final week of October, with Wales set to play Scotland, Ireland to play France, and England taking on Italy. Ireland will also play an outstanding fixture against Italy the week beforehand.
All of those fixtures were suspended in March as the coronavirus pandemic caused disarray to the global rugby calendar.
And following the completion of those Six Nations fixtures, Test sides are now set to be quickly back in action in a brand new eight-team tournament.
Group 1 will reportedly consist of England, Ireland, Fiji and Wales, while Japan will join Scotland, Italy and France in Group 2.
The tournament will be played on four consecutive weekends. At the end of the group stages, each team will play their equivalent from the other group: 1st v 1st, 2nd v 2nd etc.
Confirmation of the new, as yet unnamed, tournament, is expected next month.
It remains unclear whether supporters will be able to attend, with strict restrictions on mass gatherings still in place across Europe.
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Latest Comments
Australia definitely the game of the weekend. Wallabies by 3.
Go to commentsSmith is playing a different game with the rest of the backs struggling to understand. That's the problem with so called playmakers, if nobody gets what they're doing then it often just leads to a turnover. It gets worse when Borthwick changes one of them, which is why they don't score points at the end. Sometimes having a brilliant playmaker can be problematic if a team cannot be built around them. Once again Borthwick seems lacking in either coaching or selection. I can't help but think it's the latter coupled with pressure to select the big name players.
Lastly, his forward replacements are poor and exposed either lack of depth or selection pressure. Cole hemorrhages scrum penalties whenever he comes on, opponents take advantage of the England scrum and close out the game. Is that the best England can offer?
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