England, Wales and Ireland are set to face Georgia instead of Fiji in the autumn's new eight-team tournament.

Fiji are now set to replace Japan in a group alongside Scotland, France and Italy.

The tournament is due to start on 14 November with a 5 December final.

Full details are yet to be confirmed but the competition is serving as a replacement for the scheduled autumn Test series after Covid-19 restrictions initially prevented southern hemisphere sides from travelling to Europe.

South Africa were also linked with joining the tournament after Japan's withdrawal, World Rugby vice-chairman Bernard Laporte saying there were "advanced discussions" with the world champions.

Wales are due to face Ireland in Dublin on 14 November, when England play Georgia, before two 'home' matches against Georgia and England - these will not take place at the Principality Stadium, which is being decommissioned from its role as a Covid-19 field hospital.

Wayne Pivac's side are expected to play their games against Scotland and England at London venues - if crowds are permitted.

West Ham's London Stadium is available for the Scotland match on 31 October, while the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is free on the final weekend of November for the England game.

Wales will complete their 2020 Six Nations campaign with a rearranged match against Scotland on 31 October while England travel to face Italy and France host Ireland on the same day.

Ireland and Italy are in Six Nations action on 24 October, when Scotland and Wales have warm-up games lined up against Georgia and France. England will face the Barbarians on 25 October at Twickenham.

Analysis

Gareth Griffiths, BBC Sport Wales

The new autumn international programme has been a challenging process for competition organisers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Six Nations committee are overseeing the 2020 Six Nations completion and the eight-team tournament in November and December.

What they have tried to ensure is no nation play each other on more than one occasion across the warm-up games, the 2020 Six Nations conclusion and the new competition group phases.

When Japan pulled out Georgia were lined up to replace them, despite interest in South Africa who are involved in a revised Rugby Championship competition, although doubts are emerging over that tournament.

Scotland's proposed, but still unconfirmed, friendly against the Georgians on 24 October, presented a conundrum for organisers, solved by switching Georgia with Fiji.

So this format stands at the moment but as with everything now, things can change quickly.