how much do england rugby players get paid

England men’s senior rugby union players can earn anything from around £25,000 per year for a new international squad member to well over £750,000 per year for top stars once club salary, England match fees and bonuses are all added up.

Quick Scoop: How much do England rugby players get paid?

At the very top, a handful of England stars now earn total packages in the high six figures thanks to big club deals in France or the Premiership plus RFU money for international duty. Further down the squad, earnings drop sharply, and some fringe or short‑term squad players make more modest salaries that still reflect a professional wage but are nowhere near football‑style money.

1. Club salary (the main chunk)

For most England internationals, the biggest part of their income is their club contract.

• Recent reports put leading Premiership players’ average senior salaries in the roughly £113,000–£175,000 per year band, depending heavily on position and experience.

• Experienced stars and marquee players can push well beyond that, with some English players in France or at elite English clubs on £600,000–£1.2 million in club salary alone.

• Younger or squad‑rotation players at Premiership level are often on significantly less than the headline figures, especially if they have not yet nailed down a starting spot.

2. England match fees and central deals

On top of club money, England players are paid by the RFU when they are selected.

• Core England squad players typically have an additional England contract or “EPS”‑type deal that can add roughly the mid‑five to low‑six figures per year in extra income (for example, one leading England fly‑half was reported on about £150,000–£160,000 on top of his club salary).

• Players receive match fees and win bonuses for Tests, so someone starting regularly in the Six Nations and autumn series can see a meaningful bump across a season.

• Fringe players who are called up only occasionally will earn much less from England, because these payments depend on actual selection and appearances.

3. Top earners vs regular internationals

Not all England caps are paid the same in practice; the gap between a global star and a newer squad member is huge.

• High‑profile names like Owen Farrell have recently topped global rugby salary lists, with reported club deals around £1.2 million per year in France before endorsements.

• Add England earnings, bonuses and commercial work, and the very top England players can realistically approach or pass three‑quarters of a million to around a million a year in total rugby‑related income during peak years.

• A solid but less‑marketable England international might instead be on a club salary closer to the “standard” senior band plus more modest RFU payments, putting them in the low‑ to mid‑six‑figure range rather than superstar money.

4. Younger, fringe and academy levels

When people ask “how much do England rugby players get paid?”, they often picture only the stars – but pathways earn a lot less.

• Academy and very young professionals in Premiership systems can be on salaries in the tens of thousands (for example, under‑19s around the high‑teens thousands per year as a baseline in some recent structures).

• A promising player might spend a few years on relatively modest money before breaking into regular Premiership line‑ups and then the England set‑up.

• Many players outside the core England squad treat rugby as a well‑paid but short and risky career, planning for life after rugby instead of assuming long‑term millionaire status.

5. How it compares and what’s trending

Rugby wages – even for England’s stars – still sit far below the biggest football salaries, and that contrast has been a talking point in early 2026 discussions about pay and player welfare. At the same time, big overseas contracts in France and Japan, plus commercial deals on social media, are slightly shifting the ceiling upward for a handful of high‑profile English internationals.

TL;DR: Most established England players earn a comfortable six‑figure income when you combine club and country, but only a tiny top tier are in the £750k‑plus bracket, and many others earn far less than fans might assume.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.