Overview
- World Rugby published the complete fixtures and kick-off times for both tiers on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, making the full 2026 match calendar public.
- The top 12 teams will play a home-and-away WXV Global Series across an eight-week window from 12 September to 31 October 2026.
- A centralised three-week WXV Global Series Challenger for teams ranked 13–18 will run in Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground from 13 to 26 September 2026.
- Mitsubishi Electric was confirmed as the presenting partner for both competitions, providing commercial backing for the new two-tier structure.
- The schedule sets 36 Test matches in the 2026 window and more than 100 Tests across 2026–2028, and it links into World Cup qualification with Australia, England, Canada, New Zealand and France already qualified and remaining slots decided by regional events, end-2027 rankings and the 2028 Challenger.