Millionaires v Minnows

A vegan yoghurt maker, aspiring sailor and a PhD student await the ABs

Million-dollar players are up against a largely amateur and semi-pro team featuring a maker of vegan cheese and yoghurt, an aspiring sailor, and a PhD student.

That’s the reality of Wednesday’s All Blacks-Canada match at Oita Stadium where the Rugby World Cup favourites face the second-lowest ranked team taking part in the tournament in Japan.

The All Blacks feature at least four players whose playing and off-field earnings are understood to top the $1 million mark: captain Kieran Read, two-time World Cup winner Sonny Bill Williams, wing Rieko Ioane and first-five/fullback Beauden Barrett.

But those riches are a world away from the Canadian side, some of whom earn more doing their day jobs than they do for their on-field efforts.

Players in the Canadian team — who are coached by Kingsley Jones, the son of Kiwi rugby identity and Jonah Lomu’s former manager Phil Kingsley Jones — who hold down fulltime jobs away from rugby include centre Nick Blevins who runs a vegan yoghurt and cheese company.

Wing Jeff Hassler is back in the national team after a year away from top-flight footy so he could complete a sailing course in South Africa.

Loose forward Matt Heaton is a coach at a schoolboy rugby academy, as well as being a wannabe DJ.

Ben LeSage, a 24-year-old centre, has recently completed a Mechatronics Engineering degree and has his own consulting company. Utility back Patrick Parfrey is a PhD candidate in clinical epidemiology.

Quebec-born hooker Benoit Piffero plays for Blagnac in France’s Federale 1 amateur league and Rugby Canada’s media guide reveals he is a recruitment agency manager.

Just seven of the 31-strong Canadian team are fully professional. Kingsley Jones snr reveals the dream shared by his son and his players was to impress on the world stage in a way that attracted long-term financial backers.

“What he says is that these boys have to die for the jersey to show the Canadian people that there is room for them, to believe in them,” he told the Herald on Sunday.

“They are playing for their country and are hoping that one day when their sons and grandsons are playing and are professionals they can say, ‘we started this’.”

Of Canada’s 31-man World Cup squad, 13 are signed with clubs in North America’s Major League Rugby competition, which has a total team salary cap of $537,000; four play for other semi-pro or amateur teams in their home country, and Rugby Canada’s media guide reveals seven players are “unattached” to any teams.

The Major League Rugby salary cap covers squads that exceed 30 players, so several players will be paid less than the $34,000 that Barrett would have earned for the 12 Instagram posts he has made since mid-May in which he has tagged in

sponsors and other corporates.

Canadian wing DTH van der Merwe — now a veteran of three

Rugby World Cups — is the side’s most dangerous and probably highest earning player.

The South Africa-born wing’s contract with Scottish club Glasgow Warriors is understood to be worth at least $700,000.

Canada is captained by Chiefs lock Tyler Ardron, whose Super Rugby contract would be worth a minimum of $75,000.

Other players with Kiwi links include loosehead prop Hubert Buydens — one of the seven players listed as “unattached” — who has previously played for Manawatu, and lock Evan Olmstead who last year played for Auckland.

Canada go into the match ranked No 22 in the world, ranked above only Namibia.

Kingsley Jones believed the only way the team could improve was for Canada to increase its depth of professionals to at least 50 players.

“The All Blacks are paid, so they come [into camp] whenever you call,” Kingsley Jones said. “But these boys can’t. When he picks a time he has to make sure that everybody gets time off work and can be there.” ● ABs charm home fans, p26