Lifeline: Australian rugby in line for $16m loan after player pay deal
World Rugby will loan Rugby Australia up to an estimated $16 million to get through the coronavirus shutdown, but only after the organisation has thrashed out an emergency pay deal with the players union.
Details of the loan program are expected to be announced in Dublin later on Thursday night, but sources told the Herald the global governing body had secured a credit facility worth somewhere in the vicinity of $160 million.
World Rugby's loan program is expected to buy Rugby Australia some much-needed time to ride out the coronavirus shutdown. Credit:Getty Images
All tier one and tier two unions will be able to apply for a capped portion of the money, somewhere in the region of $16 million. It will be granted almost immediately as a low interest, long-term loan.
The catch will be that unions must have their internal cost-saving measures finalised, including administrative costs and player pay cuts.
That will put extra pressure on RA and the Rugby Union Players' Association to finalise their pay deal, which is well into its third week of formal negotiations.
The deal is expected to be finalised on Friday, with the country's 192 professional players expected to cop an average 65 per cent wage cut for a six-month period, backdated to the start of April.
Australia's highest-paid players are expected to shoulder the biggest cuts, in a player-driven effort to shield the game's lowest earners, the Herald reported on Thursday.
Negotiations stretched on as New Zealand Rugby confirmed its top players, including All Blacks, would have their income slashed by 50 per cent for the remainder of the year if there was no rugby played in 2020.
RA is understood to be confident some form of domestic competition will be played in the third quarter of the year, with the potential for New Zealand v Australia Test matches in the fourth quarter.