England trail South Africa and New Zealand in Twickenham finals ticket race

England are losing the race for Twickenham on their own patch. South Africa and New Zealand supporters have already bought out their guaranteed seats for the Nations Championship finals weekend, while England tickets are still on sale.

The finals weekend is the new global tournament's big finish. Six ranking games will be played at Twickenham across three days in late November, with two matches on Friday, two on Saturday and two on Sunday, according to The Guardian.

Sunday is the grand finale. The top team from the Northern Hemisphere pool meets the top team from the Southern Hemisphere pool, then second plays second, third plays third, and so on down the standings.

Fans could buy a "support your team" ticket, which guarantees entry to their own nation's game whatever slot it lands in. The allocations for South Africa and New Zealand had sold out as of 7 October 2026. England tickets were still available at £164.80, along with tickets for the nine other competing nations.

Demand has been strong enough for organisers to increase that guaranteed-team allocation in the week before 7 October. Around 60-65% of tickets for the whole weekend had been sold by that date, after a spike in interest following the July internationals.

For fans, this means a potentially loud away end in south-west London. South Africa sat top of the Southern Hemisphere table at the halfway point of the competition. England still have to earn their place in Sunday's top game through three November pool matches against Australia, Japan and New Zealand.

England will need a lift at home. Their last outing at Twickenham before 7 October was a 42-21 defeat by Ireland. That result left Steve Borthwick's side with work to do to win back the home crowd before the finals return to the same ground.

There was also movement off the field. Assistant coach Joe El-Abd will leave England after next year's World Cup to take up a post with Clermont, the French Top 14 club. El-Abd joined the England set-up in autumn 2024 as defence coach, in charge of the system for stopping opposition attacks.

The Rugby Football Union, which runs English rugby and owns Twickenham, was also waiting on Richmond council's decision over its bid to stage more concerts at the stadium as of 7 October.