Rugby World Cup 2015: All Blacks earn £15,000 bonus each following semi-final win over South Africa and are promised £66,000 prize if they win final next week
Members of the New Zealand rugby squad will each receive a bonus worth £66,000 if they win this year's World Cup.
All Blacks players are signed to contracts with New Zealand Rugby (NZR) which guarantee them $NZ150,000 (£66,000) should they become the first country to lift the Web Ellis Cup for a third time.
If the All Blacks are already guaranteed a a minimum $NZ35,000 (£15,431) bonus after edging out South Africa 20-18 to reach the final where they will have the chance to duke it out for the ultimate prize with either Australia or Argentina.
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All Blacks are also entitled to $NZ7,500 – around £3,300 – every time they're selected in the team, meaning players such as Julian Savea or Aaron Smith who have featured in fice matches will have already earned $NZ37,500 at this year's tournament.
Yet the men in black are far from the highest-paid players at this year's World Cup.
In contrast, England's players earned just under £15,000 for each World Cup performance after splitting a combined match fee of £3345,000.
They also received an overall tournament bonus of £38,332 after going out at the group stage. A World Cup win would have earned each of Stuart Lancaster's men £216,666.
Northern hemisphere sides may have all been dumped out of this World Cup before the semi-final stage, yet it is where the financial muscle in the game resides.
All 10 of the world's highest-paid rugby players are based north of the equator. All Blacks fly-half Dan Carter is set to pocket the biggest salary in the game at Racing Metro after the World Cup finishes, while teammates Conrad Smith and Ma'a Nonu are also heading north.
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New Zealand Rugby operates a unique payment system in which professional players are contracted to the national administrators rather than independent clubs – committing them to playing at home rather than abroad.
Established stars such as Richie McCaw and Carter are thought to earn around $NZ650,000 a year from salaries agreed under the latest collective agreement between New Zealand Rugby and the New Zealand Rugby Players Association which expires at the end of 2015.
After successfully staging the Rugby World Cup in 2011, New Zealand Rugby made a $3.2m profit which enabled it to boost its bonus for winning this year's tournament by $NZ50,000.