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The million-pound jackpot England will put on the line against the All Blacks

England celebrate their quarter-final win over Australia. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

England are set to split a jackpot of over £1.2 million should they defeat the All Blacks in their World Cup semi-final in Yokohama on Saturday.

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Victory would see England reach the World Cup final for the first time since 2007, and, according to the Telegraph, it is believed to be the biggest single bonus payment for a test match.

Splitting the win bonus would see each player in the English 31-man squad reel in a little over £41,298 (NZ$83,435) – a total of £1.28 million (NZ$2.586m) – more than double that of what the All Blacks will collect should they reach their third successive World Cup final.

Steve Hansen’s men will collect NZ$35,000 (£17,324) each if they beat Eddie Jones’ side at the International Stadium Yokohama, totalling in a prize pool of NZ$1.08 million (£536,300).

If the All Blacks can go one further and win an unprecedented third straight World Cup title next week, the New Zealanders would earn themselves an additional top-up of NZ$115,000 (£57,000) per player.

Continue reading below…

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That pales in comparison to the payout England would receive if they claimed their second-ever World Cup crown, with the Rugby Football Union offering its players a final win bonus of £82,597 (NZ$166,872) per player for a total jackpot of £2,560,500 (NZ$5.173m).

Defeat would see England head into the third-and-fourth play-off match empty-handed, though, as under the agreement with the Rugby Players’ Association, payments for the knockout stages are only triggered if the side progress to the next round.

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Members of the England squad have already received a hefty payout this tournament thanks to their 40-16 quarter-final win over the Wallabies in Oita last week, which earned each player £24,779 (NZ$50,000).

Prior to that, Jones’ side collected £512,100 (NZ$1.034m) – £16,519 (NZ$33,373) per player – for qualifying out of Pool C, which they topped ahead of France, Argentina, Tonga and the United States.

The players have already earned £13,656 (NZ$27,589) for each of their four pool matches, and if England are to go on to lift the Webb Ellis Cup, the squad would trigger nearly £7 million (NZ$14.142m) in payouts across the tournament.

That equates to individual payouts of about £225,000 (NZ$454,571) for each player in the squad.

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While the financial incentives are clear for both England and New Zealand, former All Blacks prop Wyatt Crockett, who was part of the 2015 World Cup-winning side, said money won’t be the sole motivating factor behind striving for victory in Japan.

“There is so much that goes into winning a Rugby World Cup. Money comes and goes, but what doesn’t is that trophy,” Crockett, who pocketed NZ$150,000 (£74,245) for his side’s success four years ago, told the New Zealand Herald earlier this year.

“You can always say that you have won a World Cup and that is very special for myself and the guys.

“This World Cup is going to be incredibly tough and the motivation is to get your name and your team into history – a three-peat would be massive for the boys. As a player you want to be a player who has gone out there and won a World Cup.”

Rugby World Cup sandwich survey with All Blacks legend Justin Marshall:

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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