Wales and Scotland head coaches Wayne Pivac and Gregor Townsend are set to take 25% wage deferrals, after the Welsh and Scottish rugby unions emerged as the latest governing bodies to impose pay cuts amid Covid-19.

With the rugby season suspended indefinitely due to the global coronavirus pandemic, governing bodies are coming under immense financial pressure.

With the loss in revenue due to suspended broadcasts and no gate-takings at stadiums, it is proving to be an extremely challenging time for rugby unions.

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The WRU and SRU have now joined the England’s Rugby Football Union, New Zealand Rugby and Rugby Australia by imposing temporary salary reductions to help stabilise their finances during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Along with Townsend, the head coaches of the Scottish PRO14 clubs have also agreed to the same measures from April until the end of August 2020.

All SRU board members are also deferring payments with chief executive Mark Dodson taking a 30% drop in his salary until August.

Scottish Rugby also confirmed a halt to all non-critical capital expenditure on Murrayfield and wider projects, with work on Edinburgh’s new stadium on the back pitches – the so-called ‘mini Murrayfield’ – suspended until further notice.

Meanwhile, the WRU announced that chief executive Martyn Phillips, his fellow executives, head coach Pivac and all other senior rugby staff will take a 25% salary reduction, while employees whose work is not directly related to professional rugby will see their income cut by 10%.

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