Round four of the 2026 Nations Championship takes us to the northern hemisphere and the Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Lyon, where home favourite France will be looking to carry on their winning momentum against a winless Fiji.
Match News and Current Form
Despite a few hiccups here and there, France enter the northern leg of the inaugural Nations Championship having played some scintillating rugby in 2026, the likes of which saw them lift the Six Nations Championship trophy after beating England 48-46 in the final round in arguably what was the best international of the year. Prior to that, they had lost to 50-40 Scotland and after they were defeated 34-32 in the opening round of the Nations Championship down in New Zealand, once again casting doubt over whether they can compete with the world's best when it matters.
Les Bleus then turned things around with emphatic 42-26 and 42-15 victories over Australia and Japan respectively to claim their spot atop the Northern Hemisphere standings ahead of this round, and that’s where they’re expected to be come the end of it, too, mainly due to the fact they’ve won 11 of their last 12 home matches, with a sole defeat to world champions South Africa in that time.
Fiji were trending towards rock-bottom but managed to salvage some pride in their last match when they beat Japan 34-28 in a thriller at the Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Tokyo, which was a rematch of the Pacific Nations Cup final they lost a little over a month earlier to the Japanese at the same stadium. That was 2007 Rugby World Cup-winning coach Jake White’s first game in charge of Fiji, with the 62-year-old showing all of his experience in masterminding the Fijians breaking a six-game losing streak against Tier 1 nations.
The Nations Championship is really where the South African veteran has his work cut out for himself, as Fiji currently sit at the bottom of the Southern Hemisphere standings with a -96 point differential after losses to Wales (39-24), England (73-8), and Scotland (33-17), where despite being listed as the home team, played all those matches on their respective opposition’s turf. White has made some headlining selections for this encounter, none more so than selecting former England international Nathan Hughes at eighth man.
Head-to-Head History
France have won 11 of their 12 meetings with Fiji over the years (L1), and usually pile on the points too as they average 37 points per game against the Fijians.
Hot Stats and Streaks
France have scored 32+ points in each of their last ten matches.
France have covered the pre-match handicap in all three Nations Championship games thus far.
The betting favourite won 15 of Fiji’s last 17 internationals.
The second half has produced more points than the first in all three of Fiji’s Nations Championship games.
Key Players to Watch and Missing Players
All eyes will be on France’s explosive winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey who awaits his first try against Fiji but has scored 29 tries in 27 tests for Les Bleus. Matching him in the short term is Fijian captain Tevita Ikanivere, who has scored in each of Fiji’s last five internationals.
France have been ravaged by injuries, with Fabien Brau-Boirie, Emmanuel Meafou, Thibaud Flament, and Matthieu Jalibert all sidelined for the November internationals, while Oscar Jegou and Thomas Ramos are unavailable for this test too.
As for Fiji, they’re missing Mesake Doge, Temo Mayanavanua, Lekima Tagitagivalu, Caleb Muntz, Virimi Vakatawa and Josua Tuisova from their ranks compared to the squad that contested their last Nations Championship game.
Click here to see the latest team selection news for the Nations Championship.
Betting Analysis
The Fijians are usually fast starters, indicated by them scoring the majority of their points before half-time, meaning a bet on Fiji to score over 9.5 first-half points seems the play.
Author: Peter Stavrinou