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Watch: Rugby's top five richest players of 2017
By Peteso Cannon
In the summer haze of transfer speculation and talk of who is going where, we decided to take a look back at the big earners from the 2017 season. The figures will change when the new season commences, as will the clubs (indeed some already have).
The sums in the video aren't exactly shabby yet they pale in comparison to that of their football counterparts. Lionel Messi looks set to put pen to paper on a a new contract with FC Barcelona, a four year deal worth in the region of 30 million a year. Enough to make your eye's water, while wishing you had been better at kicking a ball of air around a field.
Anyway, that is more than enough talk about soccer. Falling just outside of the top five highest paid rugby players in descending order, starting at ten are, Manu Tuilagi (Leicester), Bryan Habana (Toulon), Charles Piutau (Ulster), Johnny Sexton (Leinster) and Ma'a Nonu (Toulon).
So without further ado here are your top five, one or two might even surprise some of you. One thing that won't surprise anyone is the nation where all five were plying their trade.
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It might be legal but he’s sailing pretty close to the wind. Not a lot needs to go wrong for Finau to end up in the bin. Was it late? Not quite, but borderline. High? A couple of CM within the laws, no room for error with that one. Did he wrap the arms? There was a token effort to wrap one arm, the intent was clearly to hit with the shoulder. So yeah, it’s legal, just. But as we all know, a very slight change in the dynamics could easily have him seeing red. Hopefully not when it really matters.
Go to commentsYou forget this is Rassie Erasmus who is still holding the Springbok keys. Even with Felix Jones orchestrating a really tight RWC SF last year. It still wasn't enough to get England past their particular Springbok Monkey in world cups. The reason is FJ was going off of what they did in 2019 not necessarily adapting to current Springboks. So yes, Australia can get passed England because let's be honest, England have a one track strategy, Springboks do not. Even with rush defense I wouldn't be surprised if Rassie continually tweaks it. Also bear in mind Rassie is happy to sacrifice a few mid year and inter World Cup matches to pin point how opposition plays and how to again tweak strategies to get his Springboks in peak performance for the next World Cup. As much as most teams like to win games in front of them and try to win everything, Rassie always makes sure to learn and train for the greatest showdown International Rugby has to offer. Tbh, most people remember World Cup wins and ignore intermediate losses as a result but will remember also WC losses, Ireland, even if they won games in the interim. So even if games are won against the Springboks, it's likely Rassie is just getting a feel for how opposition is moving and adapt accordingly…in time. For Rassie, a loss is never a loss because he uses it as a chance to learn and improve. Sometimes during a game, again like the England match in last year's Semi Final.
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