The Stade Toulouse captain is considered the best player in the world, but his salary doesn’t really follow.
The rankings of the world’s best players have seen a lot of upheaval this season. The first reason was Finn Russell’s departure for Bath. After five seasons in Racing, the Scottish fly-half has indeed left the capital and the Somerset club spared no expense in convincing the XV player at Chardon. The Scottish number 10 has actually become the highest-paid player in the world of rugby, with an estimated salary of around €1.2 million per year.
According to specialist site The Scotsman, Finn Russell is slightly ahead of Owen Farrell who is sailing in similar waters with Saracens but will become the world’s highest-paid player by joining Racing this summer, where his salary should reach 1.5 million euros. The pair are ahead of two South African players exiled to Japan: Cheslin Kolbe and Faf de Klerk, who both earn more than one million euros per year, including 1,078,000 euros for the former at Suntory Sungoliath and 1,035,000 euros for the latter from Yokahama Cannon Eagles.
Hardly more than 600,000 euros per year
The first player in the Top 14 currently only appears in fifth place. Having entered racing last year, Sia Kolisi will earn around €980,000 a year in racing, allowing him to move ahead of Dan Bigger and Maro Itoje, who are sixth on around €940,000 a year.
Considered the best player in the world, Antoine Dupont appears in eighth place with an estimated annual salary of just 820,000 euros. But according to exclusive site Le Rugbynistère, his salary will be even lower. The Blues captain will actually receive 40,000 euros monthly or 470,000 euros net annually and thus a total of 615,000 euros, which would not even allow him to break into the top 10 of the rankings.
