The Australian Rugby Union will reap a windfall of at least A$12 million (NZ$15.5 million) and as much as A$17.5 million every four years after a breakthrough IRB ruling that will result in international rugby's governing body giving countries a bigger slice of the World Cup pie.

The funding move will benefit all tier-one and tier-two international teams on some level. It is a particularly satisfying result for ARU chief executive John O'Neill, who fought in the face of stiff opposition to have the world's top sides remunerated fairly after the ARU posted a loss upwards of $16.6 million in lost gate revenue, broadcast and sponsorship due to significantly reduced Tri-Nations, European test and June test series in 2011.

New Zealand famously supported O'Neill's plight in October last year, threatening to boycott the next World Cup saying they couldn't afford to compete.

''If you had told me beforehand this was the likely outcome, I would have signed on the spot. I'm very satisfied,'' said O'Neill, who was made chairman of the IRB regulations committee.

''If we hadn't got this result, 2015 would have been unbearable [financially]. We really had to scramble last year. We did all sorts of things to reduce the original loss (A$16.6 million) to A$7.5 million. So personally, this is a very satisfying outcome.

It's a proper outcome. Ninety-seven per cent of the IRB's income comes from that one tournament and that one tournament wouldn't happen without the 20 countries that show up, and particularly the top five or six.''

Until this week, the ARU and other unions received A$5.6 million for every four-year international cycle. But after an IRB roundtable on Tuesday, there is now a model in place that will guarantee the unions at least A$12 million across the four-year cycle and an extra A$16 million to be shared among the SANZAR countries and Argentina should the Rugby Championship be affected by the September 18, 2015 World Cup - which is highly likely.

That equates to a guaranteed $10.5 million increase for the ARU, with the possibility of an extra A$1.6 million given that, out of the Rugby Championship conferences, Australia stands to lose more in revenue than either New Zealand or Argentina. Add to that the existing A$5.6 million and the ARU stands to receive as much as $17.5 million from the IRB over the next four years.

A new-look IRB is also looking into adopting FIFA's commercial approach to the World Cup in which nations would be allowed to show sponsor signage at training grounds and on their training kits from 2015.

Presently, team sponsors are devoid from any World Cup team apparel, meaning a move to the FIFA strategy could be another financial windfall for the ARU.

- Sydney Morning Herald