Rugby is England’s second most popular winter sport in the UK. However, the wages paid to rugby union players are nowhere near that of their footballing counterparts.
In the UK, the average salary of an established premiership rugby player is around 100k-150k pa. At the top end, salaries can go as high as 500-800k pa. Academy players are on 15k-25k pa, which shoots up to 40k-100k pa if/when they make the first team squad.
There is naturally great variety in rugby player’s salary so we have compiled the table below to give you a solid overview. The explanation of these numbers continues underneath.
| Player category | Weekly wage | Monthly salary | Annual salary |
| Academy | £312-£520 | £1,250-2,083 | 15k-25k |
| Senior squad (low end) | £833-£2,083 | £3,333-£8,333 | 40k-100k |
| Senior squad (medium end) | £2,083-£3,125 | £8,333-£12,500 | 100k-150k |
| Senior squad (high end) | £3,125-8,333 | £12,500-33,333 | 150k-400k |
| Marquee player | £8,333-£18,750 | £33,333-£75,000 | £400-900k |
| Marquee player plus England* | £12,083-£20,835 | £48,333-£83,340 | £580k-£1,000,080 |
| Championship (low end) | £208-625 | £833-£2,500 | £10k-£30k |
| Championship (medium end) | £625-£1250 | £2,500-£5,000 | £30k-£60k |
| Championship (high end) | £1250-£1,875 | £5,000-£7,500 | £60-£90k |
Table Notes:
All numbers refer to premiership players, except for figures labeled ‘Championship’ which refers to players playing in the second tier of English rugby.
*This includes 9 appearances for England. Every game in the Six Nations Championship and four autumn international games at £20k per appearance. So, an extra £180,000k/year if they appear in all match day squads.
Let’s go into a little bit of depth on this, shall we?
The Salary Cap
In the UK, Premiership Rugby has a salary cap. This can change over time but the current salary cap of £5,000,000 is considerably lower than it was a few years back, causing a few issues with players having to accept lower wages in recent times.
This was lowered following the pandemic in an attempt to help clubs control their outgoings after being hit so hard financially with lower television and gate money coming in.
The salary cap is the total amount of money that the clubs can spend on their squad of players. They aren’t allowed to exceed the salary cap for the combined players in the club.
Most clubs have around 50-60 players in their paid ranks which usually includes academy players, a number of international players and the bulk of the squad being regular senior pros.
The =£5,000,000 has to cover all of those players wage bills although they can all be paid different amounts depending on what the coaches deem they are worth and how well the player, or the player’s agent can negotiate.
Let’s just see how the math works out. That 5,000,000 salary cap divided by 55 players is going to produce a mean salary of £90,909 per year, or £7,575 per month, or £1,894 per week. From this baseline we can then see why the numbers in the table start to make sense.
You might be interested in: International Rugby Players Match Fees Compared By Country
Marquee Players
There is a huge exception to this salary cap ruling and that is that clubs are allowed two so called ‘marquee’ players whose salary does not get included inside the salary cap.
Having this exception allows the league to attract the best players from around the world and salaries for marquee players generally run from £400,000 – £1,000,000 per year, or to however deep the club owners pockets are.
It is believed that Mari Itoje, possibly the best player on the planet, and certainly the best English player on the planet is being paid just over £800,000 per year by his club, Saracens.
As of the 2022/23 season, however, the number of marquee players a club can have will be reduced to just one player. This is an attempt by the league to help clubs maintain a more manageable wage bill following the pandemic and the huge financial hit that all clubs took.
You might want to check: Why Are Rugby Players Paid So Little?
Academy Player Salary
Another notable exception to the salary cap is if a club is using a homegrown player who came through their own academy. These player’s salaries do not count towards the salary cap up to a limit of £600,000.
The idea here is to motivate clubs to try to produce their own homegrown players rather than simply recruiting from abroad.
These restrictions do mean that clubs need to think pretty hard about how much they are spending on their players.
The average salary once a person initially hits the senior pro status will be just £20k-£40k. If a player is in the academy but has yet to hit the first team, then they could be hitting £15-25k per year.
Recommended for you: How Popular Is Rugby? (World Sports Compared)
Senior Player Salary
Once a player starts to become better known for their club and are a key player on the field, they can command around £120k to £150k per year.
However, they may only be hitting this amount for a few years during their career and it is likely to fall considerably as a player moves into their later playing years.
At the higher end, you have players, such as Owen Farrel, who reportedly earns £750k per year and Marcus Smith who earns £460k per year.
Just to show how cut throat the sport currently is though, Mike Brown, a one club man, 14 years at Harlequins was essentially ‘let go’ despite still being a first choice player and with another couple of seasons still left in him.
Despite his loyalty and massive work rate and contribution to the team over the years Harlequins management unceremoniously got rid of him due to what were likely to be salary cap pressures and the desire to lower the average age of the team.
Whatever the reason it was a shameful way to treat such a fine rugby player and gentleman. Hear his story in full here.
Clubs do not have to reveal who their marquee players are and do not reveal players salaries so it is largely down to hearsay and rumor as to who the marquee players are.
That said, when one of the best players in the world, such as Semi Randrada moves to a premiership club, it is safe to say they are going to be the marquee player.
Check out: Do UK Rugby Players Have Insurance?
Million Pound Players
Very rarely does a player manage to hit the million pound mark from a club salary alone. Charles Piutau of Bristol Bears is the current exception to this and is reported to be on a cool million pounds per year.
Other players may earn more than him overall though, as he does not currently play international rugby anymore having left his native New Zealand.
Additional Sources of Player Income
Some players may also receive additional sponsorship money away from their club salary. This can really help to boost the amount that they earn. In fact, top players will earn more from brand deals than from their club salary.
Additional sources of income include:
- Brand deals, endorsements and sponsorships
- Image rights and licensing
- Book deals
- Commercial journalistic writing
- International match fees
- British and irish Lions match fees
Aslo try: How Much Do Women Rugby Players Get Paid?
How Much Does An England Rugby International Player Earn?
An England rugby player will not earn a salary playing for England. Instead, they get paid based on appearances. It is currently believed that England will pay around £20,000 for a member of the matchday squad.
This means that a few England games per year can easily add a sizeable amount of cash to what the player can earn each year.
In addition to this, the England Rugby Team will have an insurance policy in place. If a player gets injured while playing for England, both the club and the player will receive compensation.
However, it is impossible to say how much this compensation will be. It will be based upon the severity of the injury. If a player misses one game for the club, the compensation will be much lower than if they missed twenty games or the rest of the season.
Recommended reading: Red Cards Explained: what you need to know!
Where Does Income For Rugby Player Wages Come From?
A lot comes from television, gate receipts and sponsorship. However, most clubs do not earn enough from that alone to cover salaries. Not when there is plenty else to pay for around the club.
Generally speaking, most club owners will operate their rugby clubs at a loss. It is a bit of fun for them. They will dip into their own personal cash reserves in order to fund the game. It is a bit easier to do this than football due to the lower salary caps.
How Much Does A Semi-pro Rugby Player Earn In The UK?
I used to tell people, especially ladies, that I was a semi professional rugby player. Technically it was true. I used to get ‘paid’ £30 per week, plus a £10 win bonus.
Obviously, I was at the very bottom end of the professional rugby ladder and I think the club knew that most of my money would be received back by the bar anyway!
Semi professional rugby players exist in leagues from the Championship, level 2 rugby, right down to around level 5 rugby in England. Contracts range from a top end of £30,000/year to as little as £10,000/year. More commonly a simple match fee, and win bonus reward scheme are agreed upon.
Clearly, there’s a huge gap here between what a Premiership player is making and a Championship player is making which seems unfair given that the actual time commitment might not be too dissimilar.
To be competitive in the Championship you will be required to commit at the very minimum to three training sessions during the week and give up your entire Saturday and possibly weekend depending on if it is a home or away fixture.
Here’s an interesting video on a young professional player giving the inside track on player salaries. The money talk starts around 11.00 minute mark.
Zero Salary Cap Restrictions
While rugby is a top sport in the UK, the earnings on offer won’t come even close to that of the salaries in the major football leagues in the country.
Furthermore, UK based players often move to France and Japan where there are no salary cap restrictions and clubs are free to pay their players as much as they want.
This becomes particularly attractive once a player drops out of their national squad and loses that extra cash top up.
The average player in the UK premiership is never going to earn much more than £100k to £120k per year, and that is if they are at the top of their game.
It can therefore be a tough ask for them to make enough money for them to live off for the rest of their lives through a rugby career alone.
Most players would play the game even if they were not being paid and that is what the vast majority of players do.
Why not get down your local rugby club and get involved. You won’t get paid but you will earn a bucket load of new friends and a supportive community.
You might also be interested in: What is the average size of a rugby player?
Image Credits
Maro Itoje Clément Bucco-Lechat, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
