The Nations Championship is back. In July, three rounds of the inaugural competition were played out, pitting the best of the Southern Hemisphere against the North, on the other side of the globe.

This time the northern sides will host, with a novel “finals weekend” to be played out in London. By the end of November, we are told by the organisers, we will crown “rugby’s dominant force and tournament winner”.

Clear as mud? Let us explain how the championship works.

Who plays

The Six Nations as we know them (England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales) represented the north and went on tour in the summer to play three matches apiece, with trips to face the Sanzaar nations (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina) as well as Fiji and Japan. Well, kind of.

The format

There are two tables in this competition – one for the Northern Hemisphere teams, one for the six southern sides.

Fiji ended up playing their “home” matches in July, in Liverpool, Edinburgh and Cardiff, so it is no surprise that they prop up the southern table.

As it stands, France top the table of the Six Nations sides. Italy lie on the bottom. For the southern teams, it is of course South Africa topping their table. And how that finishes up is significant.

Because the northern sides will host three matches at home this month, before everyone heads to Allianz Stadium in Twickenham on Nov 27 for the finals weekend – when there will be six matches across Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

How finals weekend works

The two sixth-placed teams will face each other. The teams in fifth face off and so on, until the last match of the Sunday when the northern table leaders will duke it out with the team top of the southern table to lift the Nations Championship Trophy.

So if things were to remain as they are, France would face the Springboks for ultimate glory.

But not so fast. The points tallies reset for finals weekend and across the three days points will accumulate again for each table so that either north or south can be declared as the dominant hemisphere.

There will be two points for the winning hemisphere in the grand final. Then a single point for each winner of 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, 5v5, 6v6 matches. If any of them draw, it is 0.5 points each.

What if there is a draw in the final?

We know what you are thinking and yes, it could all be decided by a goal-kicking shoot-out.

If the ultimate match of finals weekend ends all-square there will be two 10-minute halves, where golden point decides things (first to score wins). If no more points are scored in that period, it is time to set up a kicking competition.

If the other matches (5v5 and so on) they get one 10-minute period of golden point play. If that ends without any scores, it remains a draw and 0.5 points go to each team for their final hemisphere tally.

Where to watch it

The home for all of the Nations Championship action is on ITV in the UK. And there will be some proper binge-watching opportunities.

The penultimate weekend (Nov 21) sees every match played on the same day. That’s six showdowns on one day, starting with England v New Zealand at 2.10pm (Scotland v Japan kicks off the same time), and ending with the choice of France v Argentina or Wales v Australia at 8.10pm.

Make sure you are well stocked for snacks and supplies.

First round

It all starts with Ireland hosting Argentina on Friday Nov 6, while on Saturday Italy play South Africa, Wales host Japan and France are against Fiji.

But the pick of it should be Scotland playing New Zealand at 2.10pm on the Saturday Nov 7 – can they beat the All Blacks for the first time in their history? – and then England host the Wallabies on Remembrance Sunday.