Incoming Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has volunteered to take a 30 percent pay cut when he starts with the Wallabies next month.
Rennie has volunteered to sacrifice approximately $(Aus)70,000 from his reported $1 million yearly salary.
A Rugby Australia spokesperson confirmed to ESPN on Friday afternoon that Rennie's reported 30 percent sacrifice was indeed an accurate figure and that the former Chiefs coach had "started the conversation" himself.
The reduction in Rennie's salary is the latest example of the cost-saving measures sweeping Australian rugby.
On Monday, RA announced its organisational restructure with almost a third of its fulltime staff to depart over the next three months, while all 30 casual staff were stood down effective immediately.
RA interim CEO Rob Clarke initially ruled out asking Rennie to take a pay cut. But an RA spokesperson confirmed that a reduction was always on the cards, and that the fact that the coach was not yet under contract had made the situation problematic.
The wage cuts -- which also extended to senior RA staff who have kept their jobs -- will see RA slash their bull by $(A)5.5 million per annum.
Rennie leaves Scotland for New Zealand this week to spend time with family, before travelling to Australia in July.
His willingness to take a pay cut will no doubt win favour with a wider Wallabies playing group whom agreed to average pay cuts of 60 percent until the end of September.
Rennie's first assignment as Wallabies coach looks like being an extended Bledisloe Cup series, with RA and their New Zealand counterparts advanced in negotiations to stage a four-Test series amid the COVID-19 pandemic instead of the planned three-game contest.