Wallabies in awkward standoff with employers as pay details emerge
The Wallabies are dealing with an untimely distraction as their pay dispute with Rugby Australia intensifies ahead of Monday’s (AEDT) Nations Championship clash with England in London.
Australia’s professional rugby players are currently operating without an active collective bargaining agreement after the previous one expired on October 31 without a deal being struck with their employers.
Australia line up for the anthem. Getty Images
One of the more contentious issues is the Wallabies wanting a bigger slice of the massive Rugby World Cup pie from next year’s home tournament.
RA’s argument is that it needs to judiciously safeguard the financial windfall after learning painful lessons from the previous home World Cup in 2003.
The Sydney Morning Herald obtained a letter sent from RA chief executive Phil Waugh to all the country’s professional players, men and women, on Tuesday.
It revealed proposed bonuses of $175,000 per player for winning the 2027 men’s World Cup and the 2029 women’s World Cup, also being held in Australia.
Waugh, a former Wallabies captain, also claimed players were still obligated to fulfil their regular off-field obligations under their personal contracts.
“Including commercial and promotional appearances... media and broadcast partner commitments, social media posts requested by a rugby body on 24 hours’ notice (and) the rules on team clothing, boots and tools of trade,” the letter said.
Speaking at the team’s hotel in Teddington, Wallabies assistant coach Jonny Fisher was asked whether the standoff could prove a distraction to players.
“That’s probably a good insight,” Fisher responded.
“I have no understanding because I have seen no mention or discussion or any suggestion that there will be a distraction for them.
“They’re wearing the Wallabies’ jersey at the weekend. From my experience of working with these players, that’s everything for them. The rest will be taken care of by the people they’re entrusting to take care of that particular aspect.”
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