Women’s rugby pay triumph
Black Ferns to get $10k World Cup payment after equity protests.
The world champion Black Ferns will get backpay for the 2017 season as part of a landmark deal with NZ Rugby – a step towards the pay equality star players have been demanding.
The one-off payment, in the vicinity of $10,000 each, is being negotiated as part of the new collective agreement for the elite women’s XV players.
Under the agreement, expected to be signed off by the end of the month, contracted players will be placed on modest retainers thought to range from $15,000 to $30,000.
The move to retrospectively compensate the 2017 team comes after a landmark year for the women’s game. The Black Ferns’ World Cup victory in Belfast last year proved a watershed moment for the sport, kicking off a national conversation about the status and investment in the women’s programme.
This groundswell of support proved a handy bargaining chip for the NZ Rugby Players Association as it entered into contract negotiations with the national body late last year.
Both NZ Rugby and the Association declined to discuss any aspects of collective bargaining while negotiations are ongoing, but the Sunday Star-Times understands the issue of whether the Black Ferns would be rewarded for their efforts last season has been agreed in principle.
This means those players who retired after helping the Black Ferns secure an unprecedented fifth world title – such as inspirational captain Fiao’o Fa’amausili and Carla Hohepa – will still benefit from the new deal.
Just last week, World Rugby player of the year Portia Woodman called for NZ Rugby to support a women’s Hamilton Sevens tournament: ‘‘It’s a step towards equality and setting girls on the same standard as the boys.’’
Now, the pay deal is expected to be just one of several significant breakthroughs for the country’s elite female players contained in the 2018 memorandum of understanding.
Other key details will be around the establishment of regular international fixtures for the Black Ferns and a set calendar for training and development camps to give players, many of whom have children and careers outside rugby to consider, greater certainty and the ability to better plan their lives.
One of the biggest frustrations for the Black Ferns has been the lack of competitive opportunities, with test matches organised on an ad hoc basis.
Players Association chief executive Rob Nichol was unable to put a timeframe on signing the agreement, while a NZ Rugby spokesperson said there was no update on how negotiations were progressing.
But with the year well under way and a new programme to be established for the Black Ferns, neither party will be wanting the process to drag on into March. Rugby bosses will also be conscious of the need to get it squared away quickly to take advantage of the momentum in the women’s game.
While the two parties hammer out a deal for the Black Ferns, work is still being done on the viability of a women’s Super Rugby competition.