England will have a trio of tests against the traditional giants of the southern hemisphere and a further clash with Japan in this year's autumn internationals in November, officials confirmed on Monday.

Steve Borthwick’s side host New Zealand on Nov. 2, before a clash with Australia a week later and then world champions South Africa on Nov. 16, a repeat of their World Cup semi-final in Paris last October.

England will also host Japan on Sunday, Nov. 24 to complete their fixtures.

Six Nations champions Ireland take on New Zealand (Nov. 8) and Argentina (Nov. 15), both on a Friday night in Dublin, before fixtures against Fiji (Nov. 23) and Australia (Nov. 30), where they will be reunited with new Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt, who led the team for six years up until 2019.

New Zealand also have a new coach in Scott Robertson and his daunting maiden autumn tour also includes a trip to Paris to face France on Nov. 16 and a resurgent Italy a week later.

South Africa, unusually for recent times, will play only three tests. They start with Scotland on Sunday, Nov. 10, followed by England and a final game in Cardiff against Wales (Nov. 23).

The Scots also face Fiji (Nov. 2), and Portugal and Australia on consecutive weekends after their clash with the Springboks. REUTERS