We're used to hearing about the vast sums of money earned by the likes of footballers, golfers and tennis players - but in recent years rugby union has been catching up.
It’s only been 30 years since the sport turned professional, with the likes of Gavin Hastings and Andy Irvine effectively playing for free before then - back then it would be back to the day job on Monday after playing at Murrayfield on Saturday.
The best players can now expect to earn salaries of hundreds of thousands of pounds - and that's before bonuses, sponsorship and image rights.
And history has been made recently with a couple of players passing the £1 million-a-year mark for the first time.
We've looked at a number of sources to come up with this rugby union rich list - based on reported salaries paid out by the world's biggest clubs.
Here are the top 10 in 2025.

9. Steven Luatua - £620,000
Remarkably thought to be better paid than any All Black from his birth country of New Zealand, Samoa's Steven Luatua is thought to earn around £620,000 for playing flanker for Bristol Bears. | Getty Images

10. Handre Pollard - £610,000
Unusually, South African fly-half Handre Pollard, who was instrumental in his country's two consecutive World Cup wins, is thought to have taken a pay cut when moving from Montpellier to Leicester Tigers in 2021 - such was his determination to play in England's Premiership. He's still not short of a couple of quid though, and is thought to earn around £610,000 a year. | Getty Images

