Playing Rugby is a tough, physical career to choose. It quite often leaves players with long-term injuries and is not an easy profession to get into. So how good is the salary if rugby is so difficult to make a career out of?
What is the average salary of a rugby player? The average salary of a professional rugby player Is somewhere between £70,000 and £100,000. It is very difficult to give an accurate estimation of the average salary due to a variety of reasons which we explore below.
The average salary of a rugby player really varies throughout the world and depends on a huge number of factors. It can be difficult to give an accurate estimation. Based on the professional top tier players, guys playing in Super Rugby, URC, Top 14 and Gallagher Premiership, the average salary tends to be around the £100,000 mark.
This figure does not really encapsulate the average salary for all rugby players, as this is just the average salary for players playing professional rugby in the top leagues around the world. There are a lot of other professional leagues that have lower average salaries which would bring the average figure down.
If we are looking at all rugby players, the large majority of rugby players do not get a salary. This is because the large majority of rugby players are not professionals. If we just look at professional rugby players, the average figure tends to be closer to £40,000, as the huge wages of the top leagues are equalled out by salaries in the Championship and Rugby Pro D2.
The average salary of a player really varies depending on experience as well as their value to their team. Marquee rugby players can earn over £500,000 per year, with some of the top players having contracts earning them around £1 million per year. Whereas academy players will be earning around £20,000 per year.
How much do England rugby players get paid per match?
Playing international rugby for England is what a lot of young rugby players aspire to do. However, not a lot of people know that there are other incentives to playing for your country.
England players receive £25,000 each every time that they play for their country. Unlike in football where the players donate the money to charity, rugby players will usually keep the money earned from playing internationally, but this is because football salaries are massively higher than rugby salaries.
That figure has changed a lot over the last few years, particularly with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic hurting rugby. For example, all players in the England squad received a total of £75,000 each for the Six Nations no matter how many games they played in. This is introduced to reward players for playing for England, as well as makeup for any wages they may have lost out on due to playing for England instead of their domestic side.
How much do All Blacks get paid?
Playing for the All Blacks is one of the most impressive feats in the rugby world. If you are playing for the All Blacks it likely means you are one of the best rugby players in the world in your position as the All Blacks are the most successful and most storied international team.
These players are also compensated for their time with the All Blacks.
Each player will earn $7,500 NZD per week that they are with the All Blacks. This is to make up for any wages lost out on with their domestic teams by playing for the All Blacks. This means that during the Autumn tour, each player will usually earn $37,500 NZD for the entire tour due to it being five weeks.
The amount that a player plays does not go into it. A player could still earn this $37,500 NZD per week even if they do not play and are just part of the training squad. This is a different system from other countries which will tend to use a matchday fee to pay their players for playing international games, instead of paying per week as the All Blacks do.
This money is added to the contracts these players have with New Zealand Rugby and usually does not have any effect on the other money that a player will earn. In England, players get a match-day fee of £25,000 instead of being paid per week like New Zealand Rugby do.
How much is Andy Farrell paid?
Andy Farrell has done a phenomenal job turning Ireland into a true World Cup contender as well as leading them to a historic series victory in New Zealand. He earns a handsome salary due to his rugby expertise and great work so far.
Andy Farrell earns an estimated £500,000 per year. This is his base salary that he has with the Irish Rugby Union and does not include bonuses. There are likely bonuses in the contract based on the success of the national team, with a lot of similar contracts having bonuses for winning the Six Nations and certain tour victories.
Is there good money in rugby?
It is difficult to say whether there is good money in rugby. At the top end, there is certainly a lot of money paid to the top players in the world. We see the world-class players around Europe earning around £1 million per year, with the average Premiership player earning around £100,000.
This is certainly considered good money and if you can get to the top level of rugby, they are all earning professional contracts. The money at the top level is certainly considered good money.
However, the money in rugby is not necessarily increasing. Over the last few years we have seen the effects of the pandemic have a big effect on rugby, particularly in Europe. English rugby has seen two professional teams fold in the last 12 months.
There is certainly good money in rugby, but not when you compare it to the game which it was developed alongside, football.