The extra internationals that are being arranged outside the international window are turning out to be real money makers for the teams involved.
Just two years after New Zealand earned NZ$4 million for their two extra fixtures (a third game against Australia, and a December game against England), Midi Olympique in France have released the figure that the South African rugby union received for their out of window test against Wales.
NZ$4 million is roughly €2.5 million, which includes things like sponsorship deals and crowd revenue from the Australian game, plus whatever they got as the touring team from their test with England. That €950,000 figure is just the amount agreed between the WRU and the SARU for the game. The Welsh would have agreed to take in all other earnings from the test match, which will end up going a long way to funding their regions.
It's interesting to note that since New Zealand played that extra test back in 2012, which they looked tired and fatigued in a loss, they have declined the money spinning option at the end of a long tour in an attempt to look after their players. As a consequence, they have only lost one match in the last two years. Similiarly, both South Africa and Australia lost their extra tests this year, to Wales and England respectively, and it seems that any extra games favour the hosting team by quite a margin.
It will be intriguing to see if test nations continue to maximise profit over player welfare, or will they take the New Zealand approach.
