The Nations Championship reaches its halfway point this weekend with Round 3 featuring several of the tournament's biggest matches to date.
Unbeaten teams remain atop both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere standings, but another full slate of fixtures could dramatically reshape the race for a place in the inaugural Nations Championship Final later this year.
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The marquee matchup takes place at Eden Park, where No. 2 New Zealand hosts No. 3 Ireland in a clash between two of the world's premier rugby nations. Both sides enter the weekend with perfect 2-0 records after surviving difficult tests during the opening two rounds, making Saturday's showdown one of the most anticipated international matches of the year.
Another top-10 battle sees No. 5 England travel to Argentina to face the seventh-ranked Pumas after both teams earned important victories in Round 2. Elsewhere, top-ranked South Africa welcomes Wales, France visits Japan, Scotland meets Fiji and Australia looks for its first victory of the tournament against Italy.
The Nations Championship is streaming on RugbyPass TV.
Here's what to know about international rugby this weekend.
Nations Championship Round 3 Fixtures & Schedule
Saturday, July 18 (ET)
- 3:10 a.m. ET — New Zealand vs. Ireland
- 4:40 a.m. ET — Japan vs. France
- 6:10 a.m. ET — Australia vs. Italy
- 9:10 a.m. ET — Fiji vs. Scotland
- 11:40 a.m. ET — South Africa vs. Wales
- 3:10 p.m. ET — Argentina vs. England
Nations Championship Standings
Northern Hemisphere
- Ireland — 10 points
- France — 7 points
- Scotland — 6 points
- England — 5 points
- Wales — 5 points
- Italy — 0 points
Southern Hemisphere
- South Africa — 10 points
- New Zealand — 10 points
- Argentina — 6 points
- Japan — 4 points
- Australia — 3 points
- Fiji — 0 points
Remaining Nations Championship Schedule
Here's what happens in November.
Nations Championship Round 4
Friday, Nov. 6
- 3:10 p.m. ET — Ireland vs. Argentina
Saturday, Nov. 7
- 6:40 a.m. ET — Italy vs. South Africa
- 9:10 a.m. ET — Scotland vs. New Zealand
- 11:40 a.m. ET — Wales vs. Japan
- 3:10 p.m. ET — France vs. Fiji
Sunday, Nov. 8
- 10:10 a.m. ET — England vs. Australia
Nations Championship Round 5
Friday, Nov. 13
- 3:10 p.m. ET — France vs. South Africa
Saturday, Nov. 14
- 6:40 a.m. ET — Italy vs. Argentina
- 9:10 a.m. ET — Wales vs. New Zealand
- 11:40 a.m. ET — England vs. Japan
- 3:10 p.m. ET — Ireland vs. Fiji
Sunday, Nov. 15
- 10:10 a.m. ET — Scotland vs. Australia
Nations Championship Round 6
Saturday, Nov. 21
- 9:10 a.m. ET — England vs. New Zealand
- 9:10 a.m. ET — Scotland vs. Japan
- 11:40 a.m. ET — Ireland vs. South Africa
- 11:40 a.m. ET — Italy vs. Fiji
- 3:10 p.m. ET — France vs. Argentina
- 3:10 p.m. ET — Wales vs. Australia
Nations Championship Final
The inaugural Nations Championship Final will be played during the weekend of Nov. 27, with the top Northern Hemisphere team meeting the top Southern Hemisphere team to determine the tournament champion.
Here's How Fans Can Watch The Nations Championship
Fans in the United States can stream every Nations Championship match for free on RugbyPass TV and the World Rugby YouTube page.
World Rugby Nations Cup Round 3 Fixtures & Schedule
Saturday, July 18 (ET)
- 10:30 a.m. ET — Samoa vs. Romania
- 1:00 p.m. ET — Uruguay vs. Hong Kong China
- 3:00 p.m. ET — Chile vs. Georgia
- 4:45 p.m. ET — Tonga vs. Portugal
- 7:30 p.m. ET — USA vs. Spain
- 8:00 p.m. ET — Canada vs. Zimbabwe
World Rugby Nations Cup Standings
Pool A
- Chile — 10 points
- USA — 9 points
- Samoa — 5 points
- Tonga — 5 points
- Uruguay — 5 points
- Canada — 3 points
Pool B
- Georgia — 9 points
- Spain — 8 points
- Portugal — 7 points
- Romania — 4 points
- Zimbabwe — 1 point
- Hong Kong China — 0 points
Here's How Fans Can Watch The World Rugby Nations Cup
Fans in the United States can stream every World Rugby Nations Cup match, including all USA Rugby Eagles fixtures, live on Paramount+.
Current World Rugby Men's Rankings
- South Africa — 93.96
- New Zealand — 91.04
- Ireland — 89.32
- France — 87.43
- England — 84.75
- Scotland — 84.09
- Argentina — 84.06
- Australia — 80.60
- Fiji — 78.69
- Italy — 77.31
- Japan — 76.42
- Wales — 76.38
- Georgia — 73.30
- USA — 69.40
- Portugal — 68.67
- Spain — 67.66
- Uruguay — 67.62
- Chile — 67.59
- Samoa — 66.27
- Tonga — 65.85
- Belgium — 61.03
- Romania — 60.92
- Canada — 59.46
- Hong Kong China — 58.86
- Zimbabwe — 58.59
How To Watch Rugby Matches In The United States On FloRugby
Professional club rugby in Europe all streams on FloRugby and the FloSports app in the United States. FloRugby and FloSports also are the U.S. home to:
FloRugby is also home to match archives and match replays.