Are International Rugby Players Paid Enough?

Simple really. Should professional rugby players earn more. When you compare them to football they earn a pittance.

Or is money a root of evil?

No they earn enough. I should earn more.

Its a tricky subject Stag. As you say they earn pittance compared to their roundball counterparts but I used to follow football (for all my sins) in the early to late 90's until the game became dominated by money. Loyalty left the game. I would hate to see that happen to Rugby however with the French clubs raising the market it's hard to see how it won't reach that point. I don't think the extremes of what we see in the football market will happen in rugby but it maybe a scaled down version.

On the other hand I agree that these players sacrifice alot to play the game with a permanent risk that they could get a life long injury (eye gouge, Knees etc) from it. Then also needing something to fall back on after their rugby career is over.

People don't get paid based on what the deserve or how hard they work, they get paid based on how valuable their labour is percieved to be in the industry they work in and how lucrative their chosen industry is.

I have no idea what international players are paid to represent their country.

When the Irish soccer team qualified for the Euro Championship the players had a four million euro bonus pot. When Richard Dunne was asked about that he said they weren't playing for Ireland for the money. They're paid well by their clubs. Representing your country is about more than money to them. I'd say most international rugby players have the same view, including most of the English World Cup squad.

At the clubs rugby players are paid well enough. There's no point comparing it with soccer That's on an entirely different scale of popularity and the top clubs are sometimes hundreds of millions in debt just to stay at the top. Wages are inflated to the point where even poor enough players are getting paid huge sums. I hope the French clubs don't send rugby down a similar path.

In France many earn more than they deserve.

The very thought of rugby heading down the same route as football makes me shudder, I'll weep if it ever happens. Though as Impossible Standards said the French clubs have brought that a step closer to reality with their influx of investment tycoons. Twas partly for this reason I hoped Stade Français would go down the drain but alas, thwarted.

I think the AP has the right idea imposing salary caps and am glad to see the most successful sides in Europe, namely the Irish provinces, have not won trophies through having practically bought them.

And it's now I notice I've sprinted off topic, really ought to learn to read titles properly

Do you have any solid figures on what they earn to debate? I know part of their contract means they get rather nice Jaguars to drive around in in Ireland. They seem perfectly well off.

All Blacks that leave New Zealand to play for more money than what they got paid as an International,never get to wear the Black jersey again, unles they return and turn their back on the money.

There are other forms of enrichment besides money.

I wasnt sure if the "simple" question being asked was about Internationals playing as Internationals or for their clubs/franchise.

People are paid what they are worth, football generates billions more than rugby through sponsorship's and that is passed on to the players. If rugby becomes more popular the players will get more but it'll take decades to see a noticeable difference

Very few people are actually paid what they're worth, from toilet cleaners on a pittance, doing a job that few others would do for less than £30 per hour, through teachers paid around the average wage, getting abused daily by kids and their parents, right upto top footballers, actors and some bankers who earn more in a day than the average man earns in a year.

I have no idea what an international rugby player earns, I've no doubt their pay varies as much as in any other 'trade', but Joel Tomkins will reportedly be paid £400,000 per year as his salary, if he's a success I've no doubt he'll more than double that in endorsements too, which is an obscene amount of money for throwing a bag of air round IMO, but then again I also think the same for anyone who earns more than £5k per week, as I can't think of a single job that genuinely warrants such pay.

Yes.

What I would say on the subject is that I hope the difference between those at the bottom and those at the top isn't astronomical especially considering they will be playing each other.

I think an average Super 15 player in NZ gets about 100,000 a year. This is the same as a mid level manager in an office (ballpark). How does that compare to a HC player?

nganboy wrote:I think an average Super 15 player in NZ gets about 100,000 a year. This is the same as a mid level manager in an office (ballpark). How does that compare to a HC player?

Not sure what mid level manager you know

Thank is a CEO level salary

Riskysports wrote:

nganboy wrote:I think an average Super 15 player in NZ gets about 100,000 a year. This is the same as a mid level manager in an office (ballpark). How does that compare to a HC player?

Not sure what mid level manager you know

Thank is a CEO level salary

Bear in mind hes probably talking NZ dollars which are roughly 50p but even so its a good wage in this country.

Partly depend son taxes and if you have a national health service etc as well. This is an area where the Irish provinces used to do well with big tax breaks.

When it comes down to it we dont live in states with centralised economies, in a free market pay is determeined by a balance between what people are willing to pay and what you are willing to work for. No-one is forced to be a pro rugby player (nor is anyone forced to employ any particular player), if they arent happy with the wages they can complain ( like the england sqaud) and ask for a bigger slice of the pie. Given most of the club employers are losing money at the minute they may find this a tough argument to win, although with many Unions turning a healthy profit I can see why interntaional or cenraly contracted players may be questioning their pay levels ...especially where much of the unions income comes form the players giveing over their own image rights.
If we end up living in Soviet Russia then we can have a bueracrat decide the level of players pay, where they get to live, and what liberties they have.

Someone is definatly paying Mike Tindall too much though.

Well at Ulster the regular first teamers are on approx 80,000 to 120,000.
A few high profile players push that to the 200,000 to 350,000 mark (best of the foreigners and the top Irish internationals).

I understand our wage bill is comparable to Munster, Leinster, Opreys and the bigger English sides

Sounds about right Geoff. Obviously players also get income from other sources as well though ( international payments, endorsements, appearence fees, media work, business interests etc)
Its pretty murky trying to work out what does and what doesnt come under the salary cap, they certainly clamped down on some things like signing on fees.

Around teh time Harry Ellis broke into the England squad he claimed he was earning 500k a year, but then he was trying to get into my friends bath with her at the time so he may have been exagerating because as we all know girls are far more likely to get naked for amn who earns 500k than a one who earns 300k.