All Blacks, Super stalwarts and rising stars to benefit from ‘significant’ new NZ Rugby- players’ agreement
Sunday, 1 March 2026
$3.1m more for NZ Rugby retainers in fight to keep All Blacks.
Up to $750,000 earmarked for ‘critical’ Super Rugby players.
Super Rugby Aupiki contracting allocated $2.9m a year.
New Zealand Rugby’s rising revenue has delivered targeted pay and benefits increases to players throughout the system while $3.1 million has been added to the pot that keeps All Blacks and key Super Rugby-level players in the country, the Sunday Star-Times can reveal.
The collective agreement between NZ Rugby and the New Zealand Rugby Players Association (NZRPA), announced earlier this week, will run from 2026-2028 and is based on forecast “player generated revenue” of about $794m for the three-year term.
Player generated revenue is effectively what NZ Rugby brings in from rugby-related activities, of which players in New Zealand get a 36.56% share.
That equates to about $290m in total over three years for the players - described as “a significant increase” by NZRPA chief executive Rob Nichol - and the Star-Times has been given a summary of where that money is going.
Read more:
The features of the package include an increase in NZ Rugby retainers from $40.5m to $43.6m over the three-year term to keep All Blacks in the country; a new top-up fund of up to $750,000 within that $3.1m increase for “critical” Super Rugby-level players; $2.9m a year for the new Super Rugby Aupiki contracting model; and $6.3m a year for provincial union contracts.
The fixed $6.3m a year for the provincial unions a funding formula that is currently used and should give the provincial unions more certainty around their budgets.
The expanded wider training squads in Super Rugby Pacific, which allows each club to contract up to 12 players on a retainer of $35,000, is also a significant part of the new agreement - equating to $2.1m a year if those 60 spots are filled, not including relocation costs of $5000 a player.
Those bigger squads are an attempt to keep rising talent in the country, and it is already paying dividends with the Blues’ Torian Barnes and the Highlanders’ Lucas Casey making an impression in Super Rugby. Both are wider training squad members.
“It puts a big focus on the NPC,” Nichol told the Star-Times. “It tells everyone how much we believe in it, how much we value it.
“You put up your hand, you get picked up in that wider training group. You create a good impression and you might make the start line [in Super Rugby].”
The $750,000 pool of money for key Super Rugby talent was also essential, Nichol said, in ongoing fight to keep the so-called “middle tier” of players in New Zealand.
“They're the guys that frankly you don't win championships without,” Nichol said.
“They're the guys that the young ones measure themselves against, particularly during preseason when the All Blacks aren't there.
“They’re crucial to our rugby ecosystem and our ability to perform on the international stage.
“We want to have centralised fund that similar to the way in which we retain our top 40 to 45 men, so we're able to target anywhere between 10 and 18 really experienced, quality Super Rugby players.
“So they're probably on the [Super Rugby] maximum of $195,000 and they'll negotiate a provincial deal, which is also constrained.
“Then if the overseas clubs are coming in hard at them, what is our ability to match that?
“This funding allows us to step in and say, ‘OK, there's another 40,000 or $50,000 or $60,000 on top of the $195,000 in recognition of your contribution to the bigger picture.”
That retention fund will sit outside the Super Rugby contracting budget, which remains at $23.25m, although players who stay for seven years or more will also get a $50,000 incentive payment.
The NPC salary cap will also remain at $1.1m a year, despite speculation it could fall.
The collective also includes a proposal to centralise the entire contracting model for the NPC, which would take all player wages off the provincial unions’ books.
“NZ Rugby will provide a detailed business case to the RPA and provincial unions analysing the impacts of a proposed centralised contracting model for the NPC,” the settlement summary said.
“If this is satisfactory to all parties, it will be implemented and all NPC Players will be employed by New Zealand Rugby Promotions Ltd.”