The Rules
Everything you need to know to play The Oval Office
Overview
The Oval Office is a prediction game running alongside the Nations Championship 2026 (4 July – 29 November 2026). You predict the outcome of every match across 6 rounds plus the Finals Weekend, accumulating points as results come in. The contestant with the most points at the end wins.
There are three stages: Pre-Tournament Predictions (submitted before Round 1), Round Predictions (submitted before each round) and Finals Predictions (submitted before Finals Weekend).
Stage 1 — Pre-Tournament Picks (20 pts available)
⏰ Deadline: 2 July 2026 (before Round 1 kicks off)
Before a single whistle is blown, lock in your tournament-level predictions. These points are only credited at the very end of the tournament.
England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland or Wales?
Argentina, Australia, Fiji, Japan, New Zealand or South Africa?
Which team wins the Grand Final? Must be one of your hemisphere winners.
Which team finishes bottom of their hemisphere?
Stage 2 — Round Predictions (Rounds 1–6)
⏰ Deadline: 2 days before the first match of each round
For every match across the 6 rounds, predict four things:
① Match Winner
Pick the winning team — or a Draw.
Replaces winner + margin — draws are rare, so calling one correctly earns a bigger reward.
② Winning Margin
Pick the band for the winning margin. Only counts if you picked the correct winner.
③ Combined Match Points
How many total points will both teams score combined?
④ Both Teams Bonus Tries
Will both teams each score 4 or more tries?
Stage 3 — Finals Weekend (Twickenham, 27–29 November)
⏰ Deadline: 25 November 2026
The Finals use traditional spread pool scoring. Predict the exact score for all 6 Finals matches. Teams are determined by standings after Round 6.
Correct winning team
You get 5 points for picking the right winner.
Score spread accuracy
You get up to 7 points for your score margin prediction:
- 🎯 Exact spread = 7 pts
- 1 point off = 6 pts
- 2 points off = 5 pts
- … and so on, dropping 1 pt per point off
- 7+ points off = 0 pts (spread floored at 0)
The spread score is independent — if you picked the wrong winner you score 0 for the spread, but correctly picking the winner still earns you 5 pts regardless of spread accuracy.
The 6 Finals matches:
- 🏆 Grand Final: 1st North vs 1st South (Sunday 29 Nov)
- 🥈 2nd Place: 2nd North vs 2nd South (Saturday 28 Nov)
- 🥉 3rd Place: 3rd North vs 3rd South (Friday 27 Nov)
- 4th Place: 4th North vs 4th South (Sunday 29 Nov)
- 5th Place: 5th North vs 5th South (Saturday 28 Nov)
- 6th Place: 6th North vs 6th South (Friday 27 Nov)
General Rules
- • Predictions for each round lock at the deadline. No late entries.
- • Pre-tournament picks (Stage 1) are not shown publicly until the admins reveal them.
- • Scores are updated by the admins after each round's results are confirmed.
- • Stage 1 points are added to totals only at the very end of the tournament.
- • Finals Weekend predictions only open once Round 6 standings are confirmed.
- • Admin decisions on scoring disputes are final.
Contestant Instructions
- 1.Click My Predictions in the navigation bar and select your name from the dropdown.
- 2.Enter the PIN you were given by the administrator.
- 3.Complete your Stage 1 pre-tournament picks first — these must be submitted before the Round 1 deadline of 2 July.
- 4.Before each round, return to the site and complete your match predictions. You can edit predictions until the deadline locks.
- 5.After Round 6 results are in and the Finals teams are announced, come back to submit your Finals exact score predictions.
- 6.Check the Leaderboard to see how you stack up (when the admins have made it visible).