Australia's national rugby team players will share in a prize pool worth almost A$5M ($3.7M) if they "pull off an against-the-odds win" at the World Cup in England in October, according to Georgina Robinson of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. In a deal agreed last week between the Australian Rugby Union and the Rugby Union Players' Association, the 31 players who will "wear the gold jersey at the World Cup will have access to a total match payment pool" of A$4.71M ($3.5M), or A$151,935 ($113,120) each, if they "go all the way and become the first nation in the 28-year history of the World Cup to hold aloft the Webb Ellis trophy for a third time." This year, the RUPA negotiated a A$100,000 ($74,500) tournament win bonus for each member of the 31-man squad and a A$10,000 ($7,445) per game match payment for every player in the match-day 23. If precedent prevails, those payments will be "pooled and distributed across the squad at the end of the tournament." That means the players' bonus haul could "range from a near-disastrous" A$29,677 ($22,100) per person -- if Australia does not make it past the pool stage -- and a maximum of A$151,935 per person if they "smash the odds and win the tournament at Twickenham" on Oct. 31. It is understood that the players' association was "prepared to forego a semi-final bonus in recognition of the fact that only a World Cup win would deliver the code an immediate financial uplift in Australia." RUPA CEO Ross Xenos said, "We believe we've ended up with a model that provides good incentive for the players, given the financial uplift that Australian rugby should benefit from if the Wallabies win the World Cup" (SMH, 7/6).
