Black Ferns get $25k bonus

The Black Ferns will each get a $25,000 bonus payment for their Rugby World Cup victory, can reveal, with players receiving confirmation letters yesterday.

The bonus payments have been a hot topic since the Black Ferns’ win against England in Auckland last Saturday, with former Black Fern Honey HiremeSmiler calling for New Zealand Rugby to reward the players for their efforts during the Rugby World Cup.

It’s understood the players were notified of the amount yesterday morning, and NZ Rugby later confirmed the details to

‘‘New Zealand Rugby, with generous contributions from key partners Sky, adidas and ASB, have created a bonus pool of almost $1 million to acknowledge the incredible success of the Black Ferns team and management at the Rugby World Cup,’’ NZ Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson said in a statement.

‘‘Each member of the Rugby World Cup-winning Black Ferns squad will receive a bonus payment of $25,000.

‘‘While bonuses were not built into Black Ferns contracts, NZR considers that they are appropriate given the scale of the Black Ferns’ RWC campaign. Accordingly, as we have done previously in respect of All Blacks’ RWC bonus payments, we have worked with commercial partners to create a pool that rewards the players for their historic and special performance.’’

The Black Ferns drew an audience of 1.3 million for the Rugby World Cup final on free-to-air broadcaster Three and streaming partner Spark Sport.