CAPE TOWN :Rugby’s new-look Nations Championship was launched on Monday with northern and southern hemisphere countries pitted against each other in two separate windows in July and November next year before a weekend of finals matches in London.

The long-anticipated announcement has come three years after the competition was first mooted to replace the traditional mid-year tours that northern hemisphere teams make to countries in the south and then the other way round in November.

The new competition, designed to give more purpose to the test schedule, will conclude with a finals weekend from November 28-30 at Twickenham in London where all 12 nations will chase a placing.

The deciding clash will be between the top-ranked northern and southern hemisphere sides.

(Writing by Mark Gleeso

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