Following the worldwide disruption caused by COVID-19 and the subsequent cancellation of the European tour, a special Eight-Nation tournament has been put together for November. Japan and Fiji will join the traditional Six Nations teams in this event, which kicks off on November 14 after the delayed Six Nations season concludes. The teams will be divided into two groups: one containing Fiji, England, Ireland, and Wales, and the other comprising Japan, France, Italy, and Scotland. Each team will play the others in their group once, and the final match will be a crossover game against the team from the other group that finished in the same position.
Japan and Fiji will be joining the six nations during November of this year for an Eight-Nation tournament which has been hurriedly planned to make up for the European tour that was canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak globally. In this tournament, all eight teams will be divided into two separate groups. The tournament is said to kick start on 14 November following the finish of the current season’s Six Nations tournament which was postponed earlier this year citing to the outbreak. England, Ireland, Wales and Fiji will make up one group with France, Italy, Japan and Scotland to be the other group. Each team will face remaining other teams present in their group once and then all will face the teams in the other group who completed in the same position as them on the last weekend.
Japan is currently holding off on its final decision regarding the Eight-Nations tournament until World Rugby releases the revised European international schedule this Thursday. To ensure the Six Nations concludes in time for the November start, World Rugby's executive committee has increased the match count to six. Because the timing is so tight, the Six Nations teams have had to shuffle their calendars to accommodate this new tournament. This comes as Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, and South Africa have opted to host the Rugby Championships in October, meaning these four nations will not be participating in the November event.
Fans can expect to return to the stadiums for England, France, Ireland, and Italy by October, though attendance is likely to be capped at around 50%. Wales, however, will not be using the Principality Stadium for a year, as the venue has been converted into a medical facility for COVID-19 patients. A finalized schedule for the Eight-Nations is expected within a month. Consequently, England's Premiership clubs will be missing their international stars for the first three weeks of the 2020-21 season.