MONEY MATTERS FOR GAT’S PRIDE
Lions stars could earn £100K each for All Blacks tour Insurance policy is highest ever at a staggering £1m Huge medical team in place to ward off injuries
LIONS BOSSES have revealed this year’s tourists will be the highest paid in history, with players receiving a major pay hike which could see them pocket close to £100,000 per man. John Feehan, the chief executive who took on the role in 2005, said this week the wage bill for next summer’s tour will rise for the fourth tour running while indicating the players will receive a ‘chunky number’ if selected for the tour.
Sportsmail understands every player picked to go to New Zealand will receive a fee close to £70,000 per man if they go on to complete the tour, with Test match win bonuses potentially netting them more than £20,000 each.
With Warren Gatland expected to take 38 players on next summer’s sixweek trip, the wage bill for players alone will exceed £3.5million — comfortably the highest amount paid out in the six tours since rugby union turned professional in 1995 — with each player paid the same amount.
‘If there is one thing that is certain in life it’s taxes, death and increasing wage bills for a Lions tour,’ Feehan (below) said.
Gatland’s players were paid £50,000 per man for touring Australia in 2013, with their two-Test victories understood to have netted them in the region of £13,000 but the latest pay hike — negotiated by Rugby Players Association chief executive Damian Hopley — could land them more than £15,000 per man, per week.
‘We believe it’s a pretty chunky number and we don’t think the players should have anything to worry about as far as that’s concerned,’ Feehan added. ‘This is my fourth tour and we address this every single time. The thing about a Lions tour is that all players are treated exactly the same. ‘Unlike a Union or club, players are paid exactly the same whether they play or they don’t play a game. All three Tests or no Tests, they are all paid exactly the same. ‘It’s basically six weeks of work and it’s pretty well paid for six weeks’ work.’ While players selected for the tour can expect to be handsomely remunerated, clubs whose star players return on July 8 next year, seven weeks before the start of the Premiership and Pro12 campaigns, will also receive financial compensation. The Lions’ insurance policy this year will exceed £1million — also the highest figure of all time in an increasingly physical sport — and will provide for players’ medical treatment and compensation for clubs who provide them. Player welfare has become a huge issue in a sport whose fixture schedule shows no sign of relenting, despite ongoing discussions about a so-called global season. Saracens head coach Mark McCall recently described the Lions 10-match schedule as ‘ludicrous’ while Premier Rugby chief executive Mark McCafferty called it ‘unsustainable’ and pointed to data showing a significant spike in injuries to players following a Lions tour.
Six-time Lions doctor James Robson — the highly respected Scottish Rugby Union senior medic — is expected to head up the medical team again next year.
Feehan added: ‘The medical budget is neither here nor there. It’s whatever they cost, effectively. It’s not ruled by budget, it’s ruled by what we think we need. We would ordinarily have two doctors, we’ll have four physios, two masseurs and a couple of fitness guys as well. It’s a pretty sizeable team to work on the players 24/7.’
Gatland worked closely with Robson on the last two tours to Australia and South Africa, where the second Test in Pretoria was among the most ferocious games of professional rugby ever played.
The tour squad to Australia was also badly hit by injuries, with Gatland fielding a weakened team against the ACT Brumbies which included a host of players — Shane Williams, Christian Wade, Brad Barritt and Billy Twelvetrees — who had only arrived in Australia days before.
‘It’s paramount we get the workload right,’ Gatland said. ‘It’s a balance between the size of the squad that it’s not too big.
‘You want everyone to feel a part and not like they are making up the numbers. The medics on the last tour did a phenomenal job getting guys back quicker than expected, particularly in the third Test.
‘Do we bring in a few players to sit on the bench against the Chiefs (before the first Test) like we did against the Brumbies with Shane Williams, to protect players?
‘I’ve spoken to the board, it may not come to pass if we don’t get any injuries.’