New Zealand’s ailing Vodacom Super Rugby franchises were hit with more job losses with the Blues and Chiefs confirming redundancies.

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The news comes shortly after the Crusaders confirmed their actions earlier in the week.

Blues executive Andrew Hore went back on an earlier statement – only a day prior – indicating that no staff would be let go.

‘As with all businesses in New Zealand in these unprecedented times, we have had to look at all areas of our finances in order to remain a viable operation,’ he said in a statement.

‘This involves our staffing levels where we have made some redundancies which remain private employment matters. We have also made adjustments in salaries with the heartfelt support from our staff, who have also pruned expenditure in most aspects of our business.’

The Chiefs joined the Blues and Crusaders in making changes to their staffing requirements.

‘This is a really challenging time for all involved and we are working alongside New Zealand Rugby and the other four Super Rugby Clubs to ensure we are in a position to resume Super Rugby,’ said chief executive Michael Collins in a statement.

‘We, along with a number of businesses, have utilised the government’s wage subsidy for our staff. However, we have had to make changes to our organisational structure due to the impact of Covid-19. Unfortunately this has impacted some of our staff, and as a result some fantastic and talented people have been affected.’

The job losses come after each of the five franchises were given $250,000 by the NZ government in a bid to help them fend off the worst of the financial crisis.

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