England, Wales and Scotland given dilemma as strange host venues confirmed for Fiji’s Nations Championship fixtures

Fiji will play their home fixtures in the inaugural edition of the Nations Championship in Cardiff, Liverpool and Edinburgh as venues for games against Wales, England and Scotland were confirmed.

As reported previously, Fiji had requested to play their games outside of the Pacific Island nation to improve the commercial potential of the July fixtures.

While the possibility of playing in South Africa was initially explored, three British stadia have now been settled upon to perhaps improve ticket sales and offer an extra fixture to supporters in the three Home Unions involved.

Fiji will open their campaign against Wales at the Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday 4 July, before taking on England at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium a week later. It will be the first time England have played a game on home soil away from Twickenham since a 2019 Rugby World Cup warm-up against Italy at Newcastle.

The Pacific Islanders will then conclude the home leg of the new competition against Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday 18 July.

The scheduling poses a dilemma for each of the head coaches of the three opposition teams involved in a travel-intensive schedule. England, for example, are due to take on the Springboks in Johannesburg and Argentina in Santiago del Estero either side of the Fiji game.

It is understood that Steve Borthwick may consider splitting his squad to deal with a demanding itinerary. Scotland will play in Cordoba, Pretoria and Edinburgh in consecutive weeks, while the Welsh fixtures will be in Cardiff, San Juan and Durban.

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The logistical challenges posed by the new competition are significant, with a full schedule still be confirmed despite there being just months to go until the competition starts.

It is thought that Japan are trying to secure a venue in Australia for their game against Ireland on 11 July, though they will play both Italy and France in Tokyo either side of that game.

The new competition will conclude with a finals weekend at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium in November, with three double-headers held over three days at the ground. Every fixture will be shown live on ITV — it is understood that permitting mid-game adverts to be shown by the broadcaster during the Six Nations and beyond was key in securing their investment in the Nations Championship.