The 15 Richest Rugby Players in the World (2021 Edition)

The world’s highest-paid athletes often play in top football leagues, the NBA, or the NFL. But it’s getting increasingly difficult to overlook the growing popularity of Rugby, especially after the 2019 Rugby World Cup, which drew more than 850 million viewers.

Naturally, this dynamic sport is becoming a more popular feature on new betting websites. It’s also attracting investments from sponsors and TV networks, allowing players to grow their earnings. Below is a list of the richest rugby players in the world.

15. Faf de Klerk

Club: Sale Sharks

National Team: South Africa

Position: Scrum-half

Yearly Salary: £500,000

Faf De Klerk played an important role in getting the Sale Sharks to their first Super Rugby final. For his outstanding contribution in the 2017-2018 Premiership season, he was crowned both as the fan-favourite and the club’s player of the year for that season. De Klerk’s latest contract extends his stay in the team until 2023 and places him among the world’s top-paid rugby players.

14. Beauden Barrett

Club: Suntory Sungoliath

National Team: New Zealand

Position: Fly-half

Yearly Salary: £520,000

Barret is a veteran All Blacks player, with 83 appearances and 649 points scored for the national team. With four tries and five conversions against the Wallabies, his performance was compared to that of Dan Carter and remains one of the finest by an All Blacks player. He moved to Suntory Sungoliath for the 2021 Top League season and is set to return to the Blues thereafter.

13. Finn Russell

Club: Racing 92

National Team: Scotland

Position: Fly-half

Yearly Salary: £535,000

Another entry on our richest rugby players list is Racing 92 player Fin Russel, coming from a family of athletes including rugby, cricket, and badminton players. In his debut match for the Barbarians, he scored 19 points against England in 2018. The Barbarians won 45:63, breaking the record for the number of points England’s national team conceded on their home field. The Scotsman signed a new contract with Racing 92 in November 2020, which comes as no surprise after scoring 188 points and appearing 42 times for the club last season.

12. Jonathan Sexton

Club: Leinster

National Team: Ireland

Position: Fly-half

Yearly Salary: £536,000

Jonathan Sexton, the winner of the 2018 World Rugby Player of the Year award, is another entry on our highest-paid rugby player list. Ireland’s national team captain is the second player from Ireland to receive the reward after Keith Wood in 2001. In the 2017/18 season, Leinster won the European Cup after defeating Racing 92. It was Sexton’s fourth European Cup win. He was chosen as the team captain at the start of the next season.

10. Manu Tuilagi

Club: Sale Sharks

National Team: England

Position: Centre

Yearly Salary: £550,000

Manu Tuilagi comes from a family of rugby players. His five brothers are all renowned names in the sport, and the youngest Tuilagi is no exception. He may not be the highest-paid rugby player in England, but he is in the top ten list. The Samoan-born player is part of the England national team and the Sale Sharks squad. He joined the Manchester club after Leicester Tigers released him from his contract for not taking a 25% pay cut due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

10. Stuart Hogg

Club: Exeter Chiefs

National Team: Scotland

Position: Fullback, Fly-half

Yearly Salary: £550,000

Stuart Hogg is another example of how rugby-playing families produce new generations of great players. Both his father John and brother Graham played rugby. Interestingly, the Hogg family are distant cousins of football legend George Best. While this rugby player’s salary is nothing to scoff at, the youngest Hogg is also the captain of Scotland’s national rugby union team. He played a key role in his team’s away wins over England and France for the first time in decades. In May 2021, he was selected again for the British and Irish Lions team for the South African tour.

9. Michael Hooper

Club: Toyota Verblitz

National Team: Australia

Position: Flanker

Yearly Salary: £572,000

At 22, Michael Hooper is one of the youngest captains of the Wallabies. While not the highest-paid rugby player, he is undoubtedly near the top of the list. He had 99 caps during Australia’s 2019 Rugby World Cup campaign. Hooper has also won the Matt Burke Cup five times, cementing his reputation as a great player. He joined Toyota Verblitz in October 2020 following a seven-year stint at the New South Wales Waratahs.

7. Morgan Parra

Club: Clermont

National Team: France

Position: Scrum-half, Fly-half

Yearly Salary: £580,000

Morgan Parra is among the highest-paid rugby players for a good reason. After his first game for France’s national team at the age of 19, he was always first or second-choice for Scrum-half. He made more than 300 appearances for Clermont since 2009 and scored more than 1,300 points in the process. The petit général, as he is known in his home country, is a highly reliable kicker.

7. Federico Nicolás Sánchez

Club: Stade Francais

National Team: Argentina

Position: Fly-half

Yearly Salary: £580,000

Argentine rugby union player, Federico Nicolás Sánchez, is a top-notch athlete with excellent running proficiency and a fantastic shot. He also has one of the highest rugby wages in the sport. He was part of the Argentinian national team in the 2019 Rugby Championship and started the competition with 74 test caps - 68 of them from the starting lineup. Sánchez scored 709 points, taking his place among the top 20 all-time scorers. He signed again with Stade Francais in September of 2020, following 29 caps and 237 points scored for his club.

6. Dan Biggar

Club: Northampton Saints

National Team: Wales

Position: Fly-half

Yearly Salary: £600,000

Dan Biggar is a veteran of international competitions. The Welshman has 79 test caps and a score of 392 points. His six-figure salary puts him on the list with players that have top rugby union wages. Biggar made the record-breaking fastest drop-goal in history during the 2019 Rugby World Cup. He scored just 36 seconds into the match with Australia. Biggar was also included in the 2021 British and Irish Lions squad for the South Africa tour.

5. Steven Luatua

Club: Bristol Bears

National Team: New Zealand

Position: Number 8, Blindside Flanker, Lock

Yearly Salary: £650,000

Steven Luatua, a former Blues player, now captain of the Bristol Bears, signed a two-year extension on his contract. An average England rugby player salary is sufficient to lure some of the top names in the sport over to British clubs. Luatua was also nominated for Premiership player of the season. He ended up winning the Forward of the Year and Player’s Player award in 2019. In 2017, Luatua, who also happens to be an ardent fan of the New England Patriots, covered the NFL playoffs for Duke TV.

4. Owen Farrell

Club: Saracens

National Team: England

Position: Fly-half, Inside Centre

Yearly Salary: £750,000

Owen Farrell, the son of a legend Andy Farrell, made his debut for the national team in 2012 after an excellent season with Saracens, his first and current club. He isn’t the most expensive rugby player at the moment, but he’s certainly on his way to the top. In 2019, his team won the European Champions Cup, and he scored ten points against Leinster in the finals. That was the third cup for Farrel and the fifth Premiership so far. The England captain was also chosen for the 2021 British and Irish Lions tour for the third time.

3. Maro Itoje

Club: Saracens

National Team: England

Position: Lock, Blindside Flanker

Yearly Salary: £875,000

Crowned Breakthrough Player of the Year, Maro Itoje has four Premierships wins and three European Cups under his belt. Itoje has one of the top three highest rugby union salaries, and he is worth the big bucks. He can comfortably play in several positions on the field. His appearances at the 2019 Rugby World Cup showed that he is a world-class player. He is gearing up for a Lion’s tour of South Africa for the first time in 2021.

2. Charles Piutau

Club: Bristol Bears

National Team: New Zealand

Position: Fullback, Wing, Centre

Yearly Salary: £1,000,000

Before leading New Zealand’s national team on multiple occasions, Charles Piutau kicked off his career with the successful world championship for players under 20. Piutau was among the top try-scoring players and is now one of the richest rugby players. He is also the top performer in the Premiership and the Guinness Players’ Player of the Season in 2016/17.

1. Handre Pollard

Club: Montpellier

National Team: South Africa

Position: Fly-half, Inside-centre

Yearly Salary: £1,000,000

Handre Pollard is nothing if not a determined rugby player. After dealing with a severe knee ligament injury in 2016, his first international competition with South Africa was the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Pollard’s national team won the tournament for the third time, making many patrons at top betting websites happy. Pollard was the leading scorer for the competition. He played through the whole match even though he had a fractured eye socket during the RWC finals. This most paid rugby player joined Montpellier after the world cup, and his salary earned him the top spot on our list.