Three countries, 25,000 miles - England's daunting summer itinerary

When England’s players glance up at the mouth of the tunnel at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park on 4 July, they will be greeted by a blunt reminder of the ordeal ahead: “1,753m above sea level.” The sign, hammered in steel, is both a welcome and a warning. It marks the start of a summer itinerary that will carry Steve Borthwick’s squad across three countries, four time zones and more than 25,000 miles—roughly the circumference of the planet—in barely three weeks.

The fixture list is a product of rugby’s new Nations Championship, a year-long contest that pits the northern and southern hemispheres against one another and forces teams to trade the old single-destination tour for a whistle-stop world tour. England open against the world champion Springboks at altitude, return “home” to face Fiji at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium in Liverpool seven days later, then board another long-haul flight to Argentina’s remote north-western city of Santiago del Estero for a final clash with the Pumas.

Altitude, altitude, altitude Ellis Park’s thin air is no footnote. At 1,753m, each lungful carries roughly 20 per cent less oxygen than at sea level, a deficit that contributed to England’s 42-39 collapse from a 21-point lead on this ground in 2018. South Africa have long weaponised acclimatisation, scheduling the first Test of a series in the Highveld and watching opponents fade late on.

A global jigsaw Previously, a Test summer meant one destination and perhaps a warm-up. In 2024 England played Japan and two Tests in New Zealand; in 2025 they faced Argentina twice and the USA en route home. This year the calendar is more fragmented. Johannesburg to Liverpool is 5,500 miles; Liverpool to Buenos Aires another 6,900; the final hop to Santiago del Estero a further 650. Add the returns and the total nudges past 25,000, only marginally more than the 24,000-mile Japan-New Zealand loop of 2024, but compressed into extra flights and more carbon-intensive take-off/landing cycles.

Neutral ground, northern exposure Fiji’s designation as the “home” team in Liverpool is a nod to economics rather than geography. With limited commercial infrastructure in Suva, the Fijian union accepted an offer to stage the match at the 52,000-capacity Hill Dickinson Stadium, recalling England’s 2015 World Cup dead-rubber against Uruguay at Manchester’s Etihad that still drew 50,000. For England, any game outside Twickenham’s 82,000-seat Allianz fortress means forfeiting seven-figure gate receipts, but the RFU is banking on a northern showcase. Many of Fiji’s Europe-based stars—Bristol’s Viliame Mata and Kalaveti Ravouvou, Provence’s Caleb Muntz, Lyon’s Jiuta Wainiqolo—will at least avoid another trans-hemisphere flight.

Argentina’s hidden fortress Santiago del Estero’s Estadio Unico Madre de Ciudados boasts a perfect record: the Pumas have beaten both Scotland and South Africa there since its 2022 opening. Reaching it, however, requires a two-hour flight or 12-hour bus ride from Buenos Aires, a logistical kink that lengthens England’s already stretched supply chain.

Split-squad dilemma Operations manager Charlotte Gibbons—recently seconded to the British & Irish Lions’ Australian tour—has spent a decade smoothing such kinks. Johannesburg is only one hour ahead of the UK, sparing jet-lag for the opener, but an early-afternoon kick-off against Fiji is imperative if the squad is to reach Buenos Aires by Sunday morning. Borthwick must decide whether to send a shadow party straight from South Africa to Argentina, gambling on a weakened side against a Fiji outfit ranked eighth in the world and only three points adrift of England in November’s meeting. A slip would not merely embarrass; it would jeopardise England’s place in the inaugural Nations Championship finale at Twickenham, where the top North v South crossover will be staged.

Carbon cost of a global game Organisers insist no northern side was handed the worst-case trio of Argentina, South Africa and New Zealand on consecutive weekends, yet the price of knitting the global calendar together is measured in contrails. More flights, more landings, more micro-meals and sleep masks—England’s summer of 2026 promises still more miles, still more altitude, still more reminders hammered out above the tunnel that the modern game is played as much in the skies as on the turf.