Wallabies players will earn less over the coming seasons, agreeing to a pay cut that will see their match salaries substantially reduced as part of the new Australian Rugby Union (ARU) collective bargaining agreement.
The new agreement- that stretches between ARU, the five Super Rugby franchises and the Players’ Association- will see player match payments will go from $13,100 to $10,000 until 2017.
The previous 10-year collective bargaining agreement recently expired while the new deal should save ARU roughly $50,000 and 12% of its player costs over the course of the new agreement.
Wallabies veterans will earn less, however minimum individual Super Rugby player salaries will receive a bit of a bump while non-nationally contracted Wallabies will see their match payment increased from $2,000 to $12,000 over the final two years of the deal.
ARU has also introduced a Super Rugby salary cap of $5 million per team as recent expenditure has struggled against a declining audience and dwindling returns.
ARU chief executive Bill Pulver said the players understood taking cuts was in the interest of the sport at this point of time.
“I must say I’ve been delighted with the willingness on behalf of the players to accept compromises which are clearly supporting the financial health of the game,” he told reporters in Sydney.
“There are a number of new initiatives that we would like to launch in order to improve the future of rugby in Australia, and I can confidently tell you that the players are certainly pulling their weight in terms of supporting a path towards those outcomes.”
Pulver said incentive based contracts, recently called for by former Wallaby Nick Farr-Jones, would be considered after the current agreement expires, but was not concerned about any notion suggesting Wallaby players had given half efforts during recent losses.
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