The age-old debate over which hemisphere rules rugby will be answered next year, with Test nations from the north and south to compete as a team in a Ryder Cup-style finale to the new Nations Cup tournament in London. The Nations Cup is set to commence next year, after numerous failed attempts gave way to agreement on the concept in late 2023. The tournament, which is designed to make each Test match in the July and November windows “meaningful”, will see the Six Nations sides (France, England, Wales, Scotland, Italy and Ireland) play a Test each against the Rugby Championship sides (Wallabies, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina) plus invitees Japan and Fiji. The two pools of six will accumulate points throughout the year and the top-ranked sides of the two conferences will meet in the final on the last weekend of November. The conferences will be called “Europe” and “Rest of the World”, due to Japan being in the northern hemisphere and to allow for a nation like the USA to one day progress up from the second division tournament, which will run concurrently. A promotion-relegation system will begin in 2030.