KEY POINTS:
The All Blacks will get a decent payday if they win the World Cup, but their potential bonus falls well short of that on offer to their Southern Hemisphere rivals.
Both the Australian and South African players have an added incentive to turn over New Zealand's status as favourites for the cup.
Each Australian player has been promised a total package of around NZ$153,000 while the All Blacks will make $100,000 if they win the coveted silverware.
The South African Rugby Football Union team manager Andy Marinos said the Springboks are being promised even more than the Wallabies if they win the cup.
Mr Marinos said an agreement with the player's association had been reached but he was not "at liberty" to release the figures.
New Zealand Rugby Football Union spokesman Brian Finn said the RWC incentive was agreed during collective agreement negotiations with the players association in 2005.
"It's called a bonus rather than an incentive. It's something after the fact rather than something they're aiming for," Mr Finn said.
He said what other unions have agreed on recently is "immaterial".
New Zealand Rugby Players' Association executive director Rob Nichol said it doesn't matter what the players are paid because they're playing for their country, Mr Nichol said.
"However it is acknowledged that a Rugby World Cup is so crucial to the brand of the All Blacks, to the brand of rugby," Mr Nichol said.
He said the length of the tournament has a significant impact on the players' families and there is added stress.
"Not that the players are shying away from that, the weight of expectation. All those factors mean this tournament is treated slightly different," Mr Nichol said.
He said there was a parallel in the business world where some executives are paid a retainer and a bonus for their performance.
But he stressed different rugby unions may have different contract types.
"Some teams, for example, the South Africans traditionally go for heavily, heavily incentivised schemes and don't provide much security," Mr Nichol said.
He said in New Zealand, players are paid a guaranteed retainer and All Blacks' match payments are the same, whether they are picked for the starting 15 or not.
He said the international players' association will be negotiating with the International Rugby Board about the IRB putting up prize money for future world cups, as the International Cricket Council does for its showcase tournament.
"The ICC put up significant prize money. The Australian players would've taken home well over $300,000 each," Mr Nichol said.
And what did the only All Black World Cup winning side get in 1987?
"We got nothing. We were all back at work on Monday," said Wayne "Buck" Shelford.
"We got no bonus, no nothing. Remember, it was amateur in those days. We did it for the pure joy of winning the World Cup," he said.
THE DEALS
New Zealand
$35,000 for reaching the final
+ $65,000 for winning the Cup
= $100,000 total per player if the All Blacks win
Australia
$11,000 for reaching the semi-finals
+ $47,000 for reaching the final
+ $95,000 for winning the cup
= $153,000 total per player if the Wallabies win
South Africa
Not revealing details - but more than Australia
