Wallabies, Jones, on collision course in radical rugby change
The Wallabies are set to host a record six different opponents in 2026, including a showdown with former coach Eddie Jones in a 50-year first, after a radical change to international rugby.
The Wallabies are set to host a record six different opposition teams in 2026, including Eddie Jones’ Japan, as part of the most radical change to the international game since it turned professional more than a quarter of a century ago.
While the final details are still being worked out, Rugby Confidential can reveal the Wallabies’ home test program for next year will be expanded to include one-off clashes against New Zealand, South Africa, France, Ireland and Italy as well as two Tests against Japan, who haven’t toured Australia since 1975.
Long overdue, the dramatic increase in the number of international teams heading to Australia is the direct result from the hard-fought agreement to create an elite 12-nation global league that is forecast to become a financial goldmine for the code.
More than five years in the making, the inaugural Rugby Nations Cup will finally kick off in 2026, and will be held every two years to avoid clashing with the World Cup and the British and Irish Lions tour.
It will be played between the top six teams from Europe and the top six from the southern hemisphere and played in two blocks: the first in July then the second in November before the conference meet in a Super Bowl-style final.
The full details will be made public in the coming months but the planned increase and variety of teams heading Down Under will be a massive boost to Australian rugby fans, who have become jaded by seeing the Wallabies frequently losing against the All Blacks and the Springboks, the world’s best two teams.
As well as hosting six different countries, it can also be revealed the Wallabies will play a second Bledisloe Cup match in New Zealand and two Tests in Argentina before heading north during the Spring to face England, Scotland and Wales.
TAHS POACH RED
WHILE there will be some key departures from the Waratahs at the end of the season, they’ve moved to bolster their forward pack by poaching lock Angus Blyth from Queensland.
Blyth is set to join former Wallabies Matt Philip and Pete Samu in a revamped NSW pack next year, ensuring the team will have an influx of experience.
A number of NSW players will have their home ground farewell on Friday night against the Crusaders.
The Waratahs play their last home game of the Super Rugby season at Allianz Stadium, and it will be the final appearance for France bound Rob Leota and Langi Gleeson. Lock Hugh Sinclair, who captained the side earlier this year, will also be leaving at the end of the season.
Hookers Mahe Vailanu and Julian Heaven, and prop Felix Kalapu are also departing NSW.
“It’s important that our departing players are farewelled with the performance they deserve to go out on,” NSW coach Dan McKellar said.
ON THE DOTTED LINE
Criticised in the past for being too slow off the mark in signing up the sport’s most talented players before the NRL’s poaches catch them, Rugby Australia is ahead of the eight-ball this time.
With a river of cash expected to flow in from hosting the Lions this year and the World Cup in 2027 plus being involved in the Nations Cup, RA’s accountants have been putting pen to paper.
Of the 26 players who were part of the Australian Schoolboys who beat New Zealand last year, 23 have committed themselves to rugby. And now RA has locked up almost all of the players from the generational Under 20s team that just went undefeated through the Rugby Championship and is about to head to the world Under 20s championships in Italy.
Experts believe there’s some real talent in the latest squad, including the captain Eamon Doyle, a young lock who has already been signed by the Waratahs.
Doyle comes from the same Illawarra club, Woonona Shamrocks, as 2023 World Cup prop Blake Schoupp, who plays for the Brumbies after NSW let the talented front rower slip through their fingers. Lesson learnt.
SEVENS HEAVEN
Rugby Australia has given assurances to anyone asking that it has no plans to slash its highly-successful Sevens program after news that Ireland is disbanding its men’s team next season.
The Ireland Rugby Football Union (IRFU) will continue funding their women’s program but the men are being cut altogether after Ihe IRFU posted a $31 million loss last season.
RA reported an even bigger deficit of $36.8 million at its last annual general meeting but there’s no threat to the Sevens programs as they’re partly funded by the government because the shortened game is an Olympic sport with prospects of delivering medals at Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane 2032.
Even so, the news will still come as reassuring to Sevens players and staff after the abbreviated game was recently dropped from the 2026 Commonwealth Games and the number of teams in the elite level of the World Series was slashed from 12 to eight from next season.
PLAYING THROUGH PAIN
The high number of games that the top European players contest each season ensures a number of key Lions will be arriving in Australia carrying injuries.
The high-profile casualties include English flanker Tom Curry, who has been named in Andy Farrell’s squad despite needing to undergo surgery to repair a badly damaged wrist.
Curry resisted the option to go under the knife immediately, fearing it would jeopardise his chances of playing in the Lions’ early tour matches as well as ruling him out of the rest of the Premiership Rugby season with his club Sale.
Instead, he will play through the pain and delay the operation until he returns home to England in August after the Lions tour.
“He will need an operation at some point, but he is clearly able to manage it and play through whatever pain he is experiencing currently,” Sale’s director of rugby Alex Sanderson said.
“The alternative is he could have an operation now and he would probably miss the last run of (Sale) games and he might miss the first two games of the Lions.
“That wasn’t a solution, because the level of competition for his position was so high, he had to see if he could manage it.”
PETAIA’S YOUTUBE PLAY
Jordan Petaia would be part of history if he can make the LA Chargers’ 53-man roster for the coming NFL season.
The Chargers will kick off the new season against Kansas City Chiefs in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and it will be the first game ever to be stream live on YouTube around the world.
Former Wallabies star Petaia has been contracted to the Chargers following a successful transition through the International Pathway Program, and is hoping to get into the final roster as a tight-end.
If he does, it would cap an incredible story for Petaia, who grew up a Chiefs fan. He would go head-to-head with Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce on September 5.
SHOCK DEATH
SOUTH African rugby is in mourning after the shock death of former Springboks player Cornal Hendricks at the young age of 37.
Hendricks passed away on Wednesday following a heart attack.
He played 12 Tests for the Boks and was part of the Blitzboks sevens team from 2011-14.
South African Rugby president Mark Alexander said: “We are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Cornal Hendricks, a remarkable athlete who represented his country in sevens and fifteen-man rugby with distinction.
“Cornal was one of those players who loved the game and he worked extremely hard, but he always did so with a smile on his face, treating all people with respect. His energy and love of life, on and off the field, lifted his teammates and those around him.
“His contributions to the sport and his unwavering dedication will always be remembered. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his wife Stephaney and their children, his family, friends, and teammates during this difficult time. May his legacy continue to inspire future generations.”
CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK
Like his old man, New Zealand golfer Ryan Fox has shown he has a knack for producing his best under pressure.
Fox is the son of legendary All Black five-eighth Grant, who was a key member of the New Zealand team that won the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987.
Rather than play his trade in rugby, Ryan has forced his own career in the links, winning 18 professional tournaments around the world. sometimes in the past, bringing his famous dad along to caddie.
Last weekend, he won his first title on the US PGA Tour after he spectacularly holed a 50-foot chip-in from the fringe of the green to win the Myrtle Beach Classic in a three-way play-off.
As well as banking over $1.1 million in prize money, Fox also earned himself a place in the US PGA Championship, the second major of 2025, being played at Quail Hollow.
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