NZRU agree bonus structure with players
The New Zealand Rugby Union has averted a potential World Cup disaster by agreeing a bonus payment structure with the All Blacks squad just a day before the official deadline.
The threat that New Zealand could have been eliminated from the tournament was averted when the NZRU agreed to pay bonuses up to a maximum of 80,000 NZ dollars.
The International Rugby Board had set July 31 as the date by which all countries must have signed up to the participation agreement and warned the NZRU that their failure to meet the deadline could have severe consequences.
With the New Zealand Rugby Players Association demanding 120,000 NZ dollars for winning the tournament, more than twice the amount tabled by the NZRU, the two sides employed the Department of Labour’s Mediation Service to reach a solution.
The All Blacks will be awarded a total of 80,000 NZ dollars per man if they go undefeated through the tournament to win the Webb Ellis Trophy.
The NZRU has also agreed to indemnify the All Blacks against any fines imposed on the players during the tournament.
“Both parties have met in the middle in terms of the bonus payment,” said NZRU chief executive Chris Moller.
“While remuneration negotiations are always difficult processes in any industry or profession, the NZRU is pleased that both parties were able to resolve this issue once we went to mediation.”
Discussions over the participation agreements have been contentious the world over, with Australia’s players union recently caught up in an ugly spat with the Australian Rugby Union.
But Moller and NZRPA executive director Rob Nichol vowed to work together to exploit any commercial opportunities that might arise from an All Blacks World Cup triumph to make up the additional moneys offered the by the NZRU.
“The NZRU intends to bridge the gap between its original offer and the agreed offer through an enhanced commercial programme leveraging the immediate benefits should we win the Rugby World Cup,” said Moller.
“The extra potential cost of the bonus will not reduce the NZRU’s current investment in provincial and community rugby.”
And Nichol added: “The agreement we have reached is a fair compromise which will allow the players to now get on with the job of playing rugby and seeking to perform to the best of their abilities in the Rugby World Cup.
“The NZRPA and the NZRU will work together now to develop an enhanced commercial programme to produce the extra revenue needed to pay the bonuses should the All Blacks win the Rugby World Cup.”
The bonus payment structure agreed by the NZRU and NZRPA is:
:: NZ 2,000 for qualifying from the pool
:: NZ£13,000 for quarter-final victory
:: NZ 15,000 for semi-final victory
:: NZ 50,000 for final victory
