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How will Wales fare on Nations Championship return?

· Yahoo Sports

Wales have won three Tests under head coach Steve Tandy [Huw Evans Picture Agency]

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

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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?

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 started with an encouraging six-try victory against Fiji at 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 by Argentina in San Juan and thrashed by South 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 and replaced by uncapped Scarlets back Macs Page.

Leicester flanker Tommy Reffell and scrum-half Kieran Hardy were among the notable absentees because of injury, while veteran number eight Taulupe 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 the dramatic 24-23 win against 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 its policy 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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7 body parts, hand and head found in Bihar canal, teenage girl's murder suspected

· India Today

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Trump Invites Haley Stevens to Join GOP as Democrats Condemn Her ‘Betrayal’

· Time

Mike Rogers, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate from Michigan, and Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens speak to reporters outside Perfecting Church in Detroit on Nov. 1, 2026. —Emily Elconin—Bloomberg/Getty Images

President Donald Trump invited outgoing congresswoman Haley Stevens, a longtime Michigan Democrat, to join the Republican Party after she surprisingly endorsed her state’s GOP nominee for the U.S. Senate, Mike Rogers, in a last-minute move her partymates have called a “betrayal.”

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“I don’t know Haley, I’ve never met Haley,” Trump said at a rally in Iowa on Sunday, the final weekend before the Nov. 3 midterm elections. “But Haley said what few people are willing to say. I think I’d probably—I’d love her to join the Republican Party actually.”

Stevens ran for the U.S. Senate seat herself but lost the Democratic primary to progressive Abdul El-Sayed in August. While she initially congratulated and offered her support to El-Sayed for the general election, the two have been at odds, primarily over concerns about antisemitism, which Stevens has accused El-Sayed, who is Muslim, of not denouncing strongly enough.

On Friday, Stevens demanded that El-Sayed denounce a controversial ad that blamed Michigan’s cost-of-living issues on U.S. aid to Israel. El-Sayed, whose campaign was not behind the ad though it supported his candidacy, responded with a statement that the focus of his campaign is on the “challenges Michiganders are facing” and defeating Rogers, while Stevens “seems intent on relitigating a primary that ended three months ago.” He told reporters that he did not agree with the ad’s contents but did not want to “play the condemn game” about an unaffiliated ad.

Stevens was supposed to appear with El-Sayed at a planned Democratic campaign event on Sunday, but Rep. Debbie Dingell (D, Mich.) said in an interview that before the event, she disinvited Stevens on account of her strained relationship with El-Sayed. “There’s nothing to be gained by the two of them being in the same place,” Dingell said Saturday.

On Sunday, Stevens appeared instead at an event at Perfecting Church in Detroit with Rogers. “Our Democratic nominee for Senate, Abdul, said I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away,” Stevens said in a video posted on social media later that morning. “And he’s right. And that’s why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today.”

On CNN on Sunday night, Stevens attempted to explain her move, saying it was because of El-Sayed’s “anger and lack of kindness.” She cited his past associations with controversial political influencer Hasan Piker and Piker’s uncle Cenk Uygur, whose Rebellion PAC was behind the recent anti-Israel ad. She insisted that she is “trying to help” the Democratic Party by turning on El-Sayed, whom she compared to Graham Platner, the former scandal-plagued Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate from Maine who withdrew from that race in July.

Stevens said she remains a “really proud Democrat” who “absolutely” wants Democrats to win control of the Senate, but her shock announcement of an endorsement for the GOP candidate just days before Election Day could upend a tight race that may decide the fate of the upper chamber.

Democrats denounce, Republicans pounce

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer slammed what he called Stevens’ “despicable betrayal,” posting on social media that Senate Democrats were “united” in their support for El-Sayed.

Other Democrats have also shared their dismay and disappointment.

House Speaker Emerita and veteran California Democrat Rep. Nancy Pelosi said on social media that Stevens “has chosen to dangerously betray Michigan families’ healthcare, freedoms and future with her horrific endorsement of Mike Rogers.”

Elissa Slotkin, Michigan’s Democratic Senator elected in 2024 and a former House colleague of Stevens from the same 2018 blue wave that saw a record number of women elected to Congress, posted on social media: “Anyone who makes an election this important about themselves, and not Michiganders and our democracy, should think hard about whether they are serving the greater good.”

Ex-Rep. Susan Wild (D, Pa.), also elected in 2018 and formerly a roommate with Stevens in Washington, said in an emotional post about the Rogers endorsement that “the fallout for Haley won’t just be in Dem politics; she will be a pariah among her friends in the Democratic caucus in Congress.”

Ex-Rep. Andy Levin, a Michigan Democrat who was elected alongside Stevens in 2018 but after redistricting lost to her in a 2022 primary, posted that Haley’s endorsement of Rogers was “unconscionable, beyond the pale.”

Stevens’ chief of staff and multiple other staffers resigned on Sunday. “I speak on behalf of our team in wholeheartedly supporting Abdul El-Sayed for Senate,” Justin German, Stevens’ former chief of staff of eight years wrote in a statement. “This election is too important to sow division or stand on the sidelines.”

Stevens’ communications director Logan Basch, appears to have also left his post: his email sent back an auto-reply to TIME that read, “Hello, as of November 1st I am no longer with the Office of Congresswoman Haley Stevens.”

The Michigan Democratic Party also appeared to have distanced from Stevens, with state party chair Curtis Hertel posting on social media Sunday: “Congresswoman Stevens is not a current member of the Michigan Democratic Party, nor will she be in the future.”

Republicans immediately jumped on the opportunity, which could offer a late boost amid an election year where retaining the majority in either chamber of Congress has looked unlikely. Rogers touted Stevens’ endorsement on social media, adding that she “showed courage and bravery in putting Michigan first” and that he’s “grateful for her support.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Sunday as he flanked Trump upon his arrival in Iowa that he sent Stevens a note commending “how courageous she was, how much we appreciate that she’s standing for truth.”

 

For his part, El-Sayed, who leads Rogers in public opinion polling, has appeared unfazed by Stevens’ actions, telling reporters: “At the end of the day, I actually don’t think about Haley Stevens.”

—Rebecca Schneid contributed reporting.

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