Flying Fijians to play in landmark Autumn Nations Cup

The Flying Fijians will play in a landmark Autumn Nations Cup this November in Europe as announced today by Six Nations Rugby. 

The unique eight nation tournament will take place over four weekends between November 13th and December 6th, 2020 with traditional 6 Nations England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy and France being joined by Georgia and Fiji. 

Fiji Rugby CEO Mr John O’Connor welcomed the exciting news as a positive end to a tough year for the global game. 

“After the last few weeks of negotiations, we are thrilled to be invited to compete in this landmark competition.” he said. 

“We couldn’t have hoped for a more exciting way to embark on a fresh journey for the Flying Fijians under Head Coach Vern Cotter than the chance to play in this Autumn Nations Cup.”’ 

“This is a great opportunity for the Flying Fijians to challenge themselves and to build our depth against the world’s top nations as we work towards Rugby World Cup 2023.”  

The newly created tournament will replace the traditional Autumn International window for 2020 and ensures rugby fans all over the world will be treated to top class international rugby this Autumn. 

The format for the Autumn Nations Cup will be two pools of four – Group A will include  England, Ireland, Wales and Georgia with Group B comprising of France, Scotland, Italy and Fiji. 

The Flying Fijians will kick off their campaign the second week of the tournament in a blockbuster against fierce rivals France on Sunday 15th November, two years after they scored their thrilling victory at Stade France in 2018 and a match sure to delight fans around the world. 

Fiji will then meet Italy on the 21st before heading to Murrayfield to play Scotland in the final round on the 28th of November.  

The Autumn Nations Cup will conclude with a special final round of matches. Based on the pool rankings coming into the final weekend, each team will face off in a cross over final against their equivalent placing in the opposite pool.  

This could see Fiji meet England at Twickenham if performances go their way. 

Head Coach Vern Cotter is due to announce his squad in coming weeks with the Flying Fijians tentatively planned to assemble in France around October 25th.  

Broadcast arrangements in specific markets will be announced in due course.