Nations Championship round five: All teams, kick off times

The inaugural Nations Championship enters its fifth round this weekend, with just two rounds of pool fixtures remaining before the Finals Weekend later this month.

While there is still time for teams to climb the standings, this round is undoubtedly a pivotal moment in the competition.

Several sides arrive with momentum after impressive performances in the opening round of November fixtures, while others are under increasing pressure to reignite their campaigns before opportunities begin to run out.

The standout Nations Championship fixture for this weekend sees France host South Africa in Paris on Friday, a meeting between two of the tournament’s leading contenders (kick off at 22:10 SA time).

Elsewhere, Wales welcome New Zealand to Cardiff, Scotland take on a wounded Australia side in Edinburgh, and England seek to continue their strong form against Japan in London.

ALL THE NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP FIXTURES FOR THIS WEEKEND

France vs Springboks (Friday, 22:10 SA time)

France – 15 Théo Attissogbe, 14 Aaron Grandidier-Nkanang, 13 Kalvin Gourgues, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 10 Antoine Dupont (c), 9 Maxime Lucu, 8 Grégory Alldritt, 7 Cameron Woki, 6 François Cros, 5 Mickaël Guillard, 4 Florian Verhaeghe, 3 Sipili Falatea, 2 Julien Marchand, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros.

Subs: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Rodrigue Neti, 18 Régis Montagne, 19 Charles Ollivon, 20 Tom Staniforth, 21 Esteban Capilla, 22 Axel Desperes, 23 Émilien Gailleton.

Springboks – 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Ruan Nortjé, 4 Lood de Jager, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nché.

Subs: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Cameron Hanekom, 21 Paul de Villiers, 22 Cobus Reinach, 23 Manie Libbok.

Italy vs Argentina (Saturday, 13:40 SA time)

Italy – 15 Tommaso Allan, 14 Ange Capuozzo, 13 Paolo Odogwu, 12 Leonardo Marin, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Ross Vintcent, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera (c), 1 Danilo Fischetti.

Subs: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Muhamed Hasa, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Enoch Opoku Gyamfi, 20 Alessandro Ortombina, 21 Samuele Locatelli, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Federico Mori.

Argentina – 15 Bautista Delguy, 14 Rodrigo Isgró, 13 Justo Piccardo, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Tomás Albornoz, 9 Simón Benítez Cruz, 8 Juan Martín Scelzo, 7 Joaquín Moro, 6 Pablo Matera (c), 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Francisco Moreno, 2 Bautista Bernasconi, 1 Boris Wenger.

Subs: 16 Facundo Bosch, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Ephraim Elias, 20 Juan Martín González, 21 Facundo Isa, 22 Gonzalo García, 23 Gerónimo Prisciantelli.

Wales vs All Blacks (Saturday, 16:10 SA time)

Wales – 15 Blair Murray, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Eddie James, 12 Max Llewellyn, 11 Gabriel Hamer-Webb, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taine Basham, 7 Jac Morgan, 6 James Botham, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Dafydd Jenkins, 3 Archie Griffin, 2 Dewi Lake (c), 1 Nicky Smith.

Subs: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Ben Carter, 20 Taine Plumtree, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Dan Edwards, 23 Louie Hennessey.

All Blacks – 15 Beauden Barrett (c), 14 Fehi Fineanganofo, 13 Quinn Tupaea, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 Josh Moorby, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Wallace Sititi, 7 Peter Lakai, 6 Anton Segner, 5 Josh Lord, 4 Scott Barrett, 3 Fletcher Newell, 2 Asafo Aumua, 1 George Bower.

Subs: 16 George Bell, 17 Xavier Numia, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Jamie Hannah, 20 Ethan Blackadder, 21 Leicester Fainga’anuku, 22 Kyle Preston, 23 Rieko Ioane.

England vs Japan (Saturday, 18:40 SA time)

England – 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Will Joseph, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 George Ford, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Henry Pollock, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Alex Coles, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge.

Subs: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Emmanuel Iyogun, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Arthur Clark, 20 Ben Curry, 21 Greg Fisilau, 22 Archie McParland, 23 Marcus Smith.

Japan – 15 Kazuma Ueda, 14 Kippei Ishida, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Samisoni Tua, 11 Riku Tokito, 10 Riku Kitahara, 9 Naoto Saito (c), 8 Jack Cornelsene, 7 Kanji Shimokawa, 6 Ben Gunter, 5 Warner Dearns (c), 4 Harry Hockings, 3 Shuhei Takeuchi, 2 Mamoru Harada, 1 Yota Kamimori.

Subs: 16 Kenji Sato, 17 Sojiro Otsuka, 18 Opeti Helu, 19 Michael Stolberg, 20 Tiennan Costley, 21 Shinobu Fujiwara, 22 Shinya Komura, 23 Jisu Lee.

Ireland vs Fiji (Saturday, 22:10 SA time)

Ireland – 15 Mack Hansen, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 13 Jamie Osborne, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Tommy O’Brien, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Nick Timoney, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Ryan Baird, 5 Tadhg Beirne (c), 4 James Ryan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter.

Subs: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Tom O’Toole, 18 Sam Illo, 19 Darragh Murray, 20 James McNabney, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Ciarán Frawley, 23 Stuart McCloskey.

Fiji – 15 Ponipate Loganimasi, 14 Selestino Ravutaumada, 13 Setareki Bituniyata, 12 Josua Tuisova, 11 Jiuta Wainiqolo, 10 Ben Volavola, 9 Frank Lomani, 8 Peceli Yato (c), 7 Lekima Tagitagivalu, 6 Mesake Vocevoce, 5 Isoa Nasilasila, 4 Joseva Tamani, 3 Luke Tagi, 2 Tevita Ikanivere, 1 Peni Ravai.

Subs: 16 Zuriel Togiatama, 17 Vilikesa Nairau, 18 Inoke Ravuiwasa, 19 Kitione Salawa, 20 Elia Canakaivata, 21 Terio Tamani, 22 Caleb Muntz, 23 Iosefo Masi.

Scotland vs Wallabies (Sunday, 17:10 SA time)

Scotland – TBC

Wallabies – TBC

HOW THE LOGS LOOK

Nations Championship Southern Hemisphere Table

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	+/-	Pts
1	South Africa	4	4	0	0	+140	20
2	New Zealand	4	4	0	0	+73	20
3	Australia	4	1	0	3	+6	8
4	Argentina	4	1	0	3	-32	7
5	Japan	4	1	0	3	-33	5
6	Fiji	4	0	0	4	-133	0

Nations Championship Northern Hemisphere Table

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	+/-	Pts
1	France	4	3	0	1	+78	17
2	England	4	3	0	1	+71	15
3	Ireland	4	3	0	1	+29	15
4	Scotland	4	2	0	2	-11	11
5	Wales	4	2	0	2	-35	10
6	Italy	4	0	0	4	-153	0