England’s players will each take home a $30,000 bonus if they win the Rugby World Cup final on November 12, but there will be no such financial windfall for the Black Ferns if they successfully defend their title.
New Zealand Rugby confirmed to 1News today that the Black Ferns would not be in line for a bonus, saying the focus was on "transitioning our professional women’s players to a full-time employment model".
A major contract breakthrough this year means the majority of the Black Ferns' World Cup squad are on New Zealand Rugby retainers of between $35,000 - $70,000 a year.
England’s potential World Cup bonus payments were revealed in a report in the Telegraph newspaper today.
The report said the financial incentive was "the most generous scheme ever agreed between the Rugby Football Union and its female players for a Rugby World Cup" and that it was thought to be "the largest ever for an international women’s rugby side at a major tournament".
England, who opened their World Cup account with an 84-19 victory over Fiji at Eden Park, have now won 26 Tests in a row and are hot favourites to win the final. Should they do so, it will be their third World Cup success. New Zealand have won five.
According to the Black Ferns' collective contract, six of the 30 contracted players are in the upper bracket of $70,00 per year, with five earning $35,000.
This compares well with the England players' salaries – their highest earners are in the $60,000 bracket – but not with the All Blacks' World Cup-winning bonuses.
In comparison, the All Blacks each earned $150,000 for winning the World Cup in the United Kingdom in 2015, up from $100,000 each in 2011. They are in line to win at least $150,000 (the final bonus figure must be negotiated by January) should they win in France next year.
A first-year male Super Rugby player in New Zealand earns a minimum of $75,000. Top All Blacks are reportedly paid around $1 million per year.
Most of the players among the 12 teams at this women’s World Cup do not get paid to play.
England loose forward Alex Matthews, interviewed by 1News in Whangārei today ahead of her team’s match against France in the city on Saturday, said the potential bonus wasn’t a big motivating factor for her but it was significant, nonetheless.
"It just shows the growth in the game and the support," Matthews said. "The men get paid, the men get bonuses, I think it shows how far the women’s game has come.
"It’s the beginning, and hopefully for future generations it will keep going up and up."
England forwards coach Louis Deacon, a former England Test lock, told 1News: "I genuinely believe the players should be rewarded for what they do and if they’re successful they should be rewarded financially."
NZ Rugby’s general manager of professional rugby and performance Chris Lendrum told 1News: "The Black Ferns’ Memorandum of Understanding doesn’t specifically provide for a Rugby World Cup bonus payment, but New Zealand Rugby have made a significant investment in the team’s campaign, including transitioning our professional women’s players to a full-time employment model for the first time in 2022.
"Our annual investment in player salaries is now nearly $2 million and there has been a significant increase in annual assembly fees since the 2017 Rugby World Cup.
"We are committed to continuing our support of the Black Ferns and women’s rugby in Aotearoa and encouraged by the overwhelming support New Zealanders have shown during the opening weekend of the tournament."
The Black Ferns recovered from their 17-0 deficit against Australia in their World Cup opener to beat the Wallaroos 41-17. They play Wales in their second pool game in Waitakere on Sunday afternoon.
The top eight of 12 teams qualify for the quarter-finals, with the Black Ferns, should they continue winning, potentially facing England in a semifinal or the grand final.
A crowd of more than 34,000 watched the Black Ferns beat the Wallaroos at Eden Park last Saturday, with World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin saying before it kicked off that the tournament, the first in the Southern Hemisphere for the women’s game, was a watershed moment in terms of equality.
“The development of women in rugby is the single greatest opportunity for our sport to grow in the next decade,” he said.
“Our mission is a sport where every girl and boy has equal opportunity.”
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