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Wales have won three Tests under head coach Steve Tandy

By

Gareth Griffiths

BBC Sport Wales

  • Published6 minutes ago

Wales will start their international season next weekend when they return to the Nations Championship.

Steve Tandy's side face four games as they host Japan, New Zealand and Australia in Cardiff before a final play-off match at the Allianz Stadium completes the November schedule.

The autumn games begin the road to the 2027 World Cup in Australia in a year's time.

BBC Sport Wales provides a recap of what has happened so far in the inaugural running of the global tournament and looks at what lies in wait over the next month.

What is the Nations Championship?

Figure caption,

How does the Nations Championship work?

A brief recap of World Rugby's new tournament.

The Nations Championship pits the northern hemisphere teams who compete in the Six Nations - England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and Italy - against southern hemisphere giants South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina, plus invited sides Fiji and Japan.

All teams play each of the six nations in the opposing hemisphere once, with three rounds of fixtures having already been staged in July and now another three in November.

Their results will rank the teams within their own hemisphere, from one to six, before a final play-off weekend at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham.

How have Wales fared so far and who do they play next?

Wales will resume the Nations Championship in fifth place in the northern hemisphere standings after a mixed July campaign.

It startedwith an encouraging six-try victory against Fijiat the Cardiff City Stadium, which was considered a home venue for the Pacific Islanders side.

But Wales faltered during a demanding travelling schedule as they were outclassed byArgentina in San Juanand thrashed bySouth Africa in Durban.

Now they face a trio of home games in Cardiff with the opening match staged against Eddie Jones' Japan side, whom also sit fifth in their table, with the two teams potentially meeting twice this November.

The tests will become harder when Dave Rennie brings his New Zealand side to Cardiff on 14 November, before the Wallabies arrive seven days later.

Results so far

Saturday, 4 July: Fiji 24-39 Wales

Saturday, 11 July: Argentina 35-21 Wales

Saturday, 18 July: South Africa 43-0 Wales

Remaining fixtures

Saturday, 7 November: Wales v Japan, Principality Stadium, Cardiff, 16:40 GMT

Saturday, 14 November: Wales v New Zealand, Principality Stadium, Cardiff, 14:10 GMT

Saturday, 21 November: Wales v Australia, Principality Stadium, Cardiff, 20:10 GMT.

Who is in the Wales squad this autumn?

Uncapped Dragons duo Aneurin Owen and Che Hope and Cardiff prop Rhys Barrett were named in a 39-strong group for the November Tests, with hooker Dewi Lake again handed the captaincy.

Head coach Tandy called up Dragons lock Seb Davies and Cardiff number eight Taine Basham for the first time since he took charge of the national side.

Dragons wing Rio Dyer initially earned a recall, but was ruled out because of a hamstring injury andreplaced by uncapped Scarlets back Macs Page.

Leicester flanker Tommy Reffell and scrum-halfKieran Hardywere among the notable absentees because of injury, while veteran number eightTaulupe Faletau is also absent.

Fifteen of the players are based outside of Wales with 14 plying their club trade in England and Montpellier lock Adam Beard based in France.

Forwards:Rhys Barratt, Rhys Carre, Nicky Smith, Gareth Thomas, Dewi Lake (capt), Liam Belcher, Ryan Elias, Tomas Francis, Archie Griffin, Dillon Lewis, Adam Beard, Ben Carter, Seb Davies, Dafydd Jenkins, Teddy Williams, Taine Basham, James Botham, Kane James, Alex Mann, Jac Morgan, Taine Plumtree, Aaron Wainwright.

Backs:Che Hope, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Tomos Williams, Sam Costelow, Dan Edwards, Joe Hawkins, Louie Hennessey, Eddie James, Max Llewellyn, Aneurin Owen, Josh Adams, Macs Page, Gabriel Hamer-Webb, Ellis Mee, Blair Murray, Louis Rees-Zammit, Tom Rogers.

Will the Principality Stadium be full?

Early indications suggest there could empty seats at the Principality Stadium this autumn.

A look at the WRU website shows a significant amount of tickets still available for the three home matches.

The first test for Wales will be to match the 61,000 crowd that witnessed thedramatic 24-23 winagainst Japan 12 months ago.

Wales should expect a sellout against the All Blacks, especially given the favourable Saturday mid-afternoon kick-off time, although the late evening start against Australia a week later will provide its challenges.

The attendances will give an insight into whether the upheaval in Welsh rugby has affected interest in the game - or whether apathy is setting in.

The Wales players are again performing amid the backdrop of an uncertain domestic future with the WRU currently determined to stick to itspolicy of cutting Ospreys or Scarlets by 2028.

There will be an annual general meeting (AGM) held a day after Wales play Australia, while a rugby summit featuring the professional sides will be staged in December.

The ticket sales are important because they form more than 50% of the annual turnover of the WRU,who announced an £18m loss earlier this month.

What happens at the final weekend at Twickenham?

On the final weekend in November, there is a three-day play-off event staged at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham.

The sixth-placed team in the northern hemisphere plays off against the equivalent in the southern hemisphere standings and so on, culminating in the two top-ranked sides taking each other on.

On Friday evening the sixth-placed and third-place finishers will face each other, while Saturday will see the fifth-place and second place matches.

The Sunday finale will see the fourth-placed sides compete before the winner of that final match between the top seeds crowned the inaugural Nations Championship winner.

There is also a parallel, Ryder-Cup style, hemisphere title.

The winner of each of the matches on the play-offs weekend will earn one point for their hemisphere, except for the contest between the two top-ranked teams which delivers two.

The first hemisphere to earn four points over the weekend will be crowned winners.

Friday, 27 November

Sixth-place North v Sixth-place South (16:40 GMT)

Third-place North v Third-place South (20:10 GMT)

Saturday, 28 November

Fifth-place North v Fifth-place South (13:10 GMT)

Second-place North v Second-place South (16:40 GMT)

Sunday, 29 November

Fourth-place North v Fourth-place South (13:10 GMT)

First-place North v First-place South (16:40 GMT).

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