The new Nations Championship rugby competition gets underway next weekend, 4 July, with the first round of matches taking place.

In all, six matches will be played each round, with three happening in the Southern Hemisphere during July and three taking place in the Northern Hemisphere in November.

There will also be a Finals Weekend in late November to determine an overall winner.

Here is what you need to know about the competition:

Who is playing?

There are 12 teams that will take part:

From the South: New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Japan, Fiji and Argentina

From the North: France, Italy, Ireland, Wales, England and Scotland

When does the competition take place?

It will happen every two years, to determine the best rugby nation in the game.

The Southern Hemisphere teams will all play at home in July and the Northern Hemisphere teams will all play at home in November.

Japan and Fiji, as invitational sides representing the South, will play their “home matches” at neutral venues where possible in the northern hemisphere.

How does it work?

Teams will play for log points, with every result counting.

After all the six rounds have been completed, the teams will be ranked 1-6 in their hemisphere group, by the points they’ve collected.

On Finals Weekend, the teams will play a seventh match in the competition, with six pitted against six, five against five, and so on. The overall winner will be whoever comes out on top among the first ranked sides.

There will be six matches across three double-header sessions on Finals Weekend, on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Twickenham.

When does it happen?

The Southern Hemisphere Tests take place on Saturday 4, 11 and 18 July with the Northern Hemisphere Tests scheduled for 8, 15 and 21 November.

The Finals Weekend will happen on 27, 28 and 29 November.

Southern Hemisphere fixtures

Round one matches – 4 July

New Zealand v France (Christchurch)
Jana v Italy (Tokyo)
Australia v Ireland (Sydney)
Fiji v Wales (Cardiff)
South Africa v England (Joburg)
Argentina v Scotland (Cordoba)

Round two matches – 11 July

New Zealand v Italy (Wellington)
Australia v France (Brisbane)
Japan v Ireland (Newcastle)
Fiji v England (Liverpool)
South Africa v Scotland (Pretoria)
Argentina v Wales (San Juan)

Round three matches – 18 July

New Zealand v Ireland (Auckland)
Japan v France (Tokyo)
Australia v Italy (Perth)
Fiji v Scotland (Edinburgh)
South Africa v Wales (Durban)
Argentina v England (Santiago)

For more on the competition including the November Northern Hemisphere fixtures click here.