The Flying Fijians are playing their 'home' games in Cardiff, Liverpool and Edinburgh. Here’s why the Pacific Islanders have opted to go on the road.
Fiji kicked off their Nations Championship campaign with a ‘home’ game against Wales in Cardiff last Saturday.
Over the next two weekends they’ll complete July’s ‘Southern Hemisphere’ leg of the competition by hosting England in Liverpool and Scotland in Edinburgh.
You don’t need an A-level in Geography to know that none of those three cities are in Fiji, or even south of the equator.
So here’s why Fiji are playing their Nations Championship home games on the other side of the world in the United Kingdom.
Why are Fiji playing their Nations Championship home games in the UK?
Rather than inviting Six Nations sides to fly to the South Pacific, Fiji Rugby opted to take the flying Fijians on the road for their home matches in the Nations Championship
Several factors fed into the governing body’s decision. Travel logistics were considered, as was the fact that the team’s usual home at the HFC Bank Stadium in capital city Suva has a capacity of just over 15,000 – too small to satisfy the Nations Championship minimum of 25,000.
It was also impossible to ignore the financial opportunities on offer from playing in the UK.
That Fiji and Japan have been invited to join the Six Nations and Rugby Championship teams in the competition is a big deal for both sides, guaranteeing them six matches against top-tier opposition every other year. It’s a potential windfall that could have a significant impact on Fiji Rugby’s finances.
“It’s a transformational opportunity for us,” said Fiji Rugby chairman John Sanday. “Never before would we have been able to have this kind of revenues… which we then can invest back into our facilities and high performance.”
Is it really worthwhile giving up home advantage?
Competitively, it may not make as much difference as you might think.
Fiji comprehensively beat Scotland 29-14 in Suva last July, and while the Scots were missing their British & Irish Lions contingent, the hosts showed how dangerous they can be on home soil.
But the Flying Fijians, ranked ninth in the world, are used to being on the road, with only two of their nine fixtures in 2025 taking place at home. With many of the squad based in Europe, they often perform well in the northern hemisphere, so are unlikely to be daunted by crowds dominated by opposition fans.
And the hope is that relocating to the northern hemisphere for these 2026 home fixtures will pay big dividends in the long run. Ideally, Fiji Rugby would like to generate enough revenue to build a new 25,000-seat stadium in Suva, and – if all goes to plan – have it ready in time for the 2030 iteration of the Nations Championship.
“That’s what we’re all wishing for, that in a couple of years, we might have a stadium that will host our team,” said acting head coach Senirusi Seruvakula (via the BBC).
“So it would be good to have this game in the future in our country and the people there will come out in numbers and watching in our stadium.”
Fiji ran out comfortable 29-14 winners over Scotland in Suva last July (Josua BUREDUA / AFP via Getty Images)
Could Fiji have played on more neutral territory?
Seeing as Wales don’t usually play at the Cardiff City Stadium and England are making their first ever appearance at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium, you could argue they’re technically – if not geographically – neutral venues. But however you dress it up, Scotland playing in the familiar surroundings of Murrayfield is a home fixture in all but name.
Fiji did reportedly investigate playing home games in South Africa or France, but ultimately opted to base themselves in the UK. Indeed, with all three of their July opponents being British sides, it makes sense to play where there’s already an in-built fanbase.
Have any other Nations Championship teams ceded home advantage?
The four SANZAAR nations are all playing their three July fixtures on home turf, but Japan – who, for the purposes of the Nations Championship, are counted as a southern hemisphere nation – are playing one of their three ‘home’ fixtures abroad.
Saturday’s match against Ireland will be played at the McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle, Australia, but Brave Blossoms coach Eddie Jones is not happy about having a week away from Tokyo.
“You know why we’re playing Ireland in Newcastle? Ireland have all the power at World Rugby,” Jones said on the Rugby Unity podcast. “So we have to play our home game, that should be in Tokyo, in Australia to make sure Ireland don’t have to travel too much – let’s be frank about it.
“We have to just suck it up and that’s what happens when you’re not a major political power at the table.”
What does all this mean for the British teams’ air miles?
The spread-out geography of the SANZAAR nations means that numerous long-haul flights are an inevitability of the Rugby Championship. But for the Six Nations sides, used to spending February and March in Europe and touring a single nation in the summer, this will mean a lot more time in the air.
Wales’ itinerary of Cardiff to San Juan to Durban, England’s journey from Johannesburg to Liverpool to Buenos Aires, and Scotland’s adventure from Cordoba to Pretoria to Edinburgh mean each team will be flying well over 11,000 miles over the space of a fortnight. Hope they’ve packed their compression socks…
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