No.10s demand top billing with hookers at bottom of payroll

FLY-HALVES were the highest paid players in last season’s Premiership, with hookers paid lowest on average.

Premiership Rugby last week released a report into player salaries for the 20202021 season in a bid to improve transparency.

The average salary of a fly-half was £175,679 with centre (£167,779) and lock (£158,617) making up the top three best-paid positions. Scrum-halves (£117,912) and hookers (£113,115) earned the least.

Other findings included experience leading towards better wages with players who have made over 100 appearances earning on average £205,000. Meanwhile,

those with more than 50 Test caps received £325,306. The average player income was a little under £144,000 a year.

While the salary cap last season was £6.4m per club, this figure has come down to £5m for the next few years “as a necessity for Covid recovery”, according to Premiership Rugby.

“It’s broadly similar [to previous years],” said the salary cap director Andrew Rogers.

“There has been a change in supply and demand particularly around scrum-halves, we have seen over the last five years that has changed quite a lot. But full-backs and fly-halves have normally been the highest-paid backs, with locks and props there or thereabouts.”

The average salary for fly-halves was bumped up by 13 per cent of No.10s being paid more than £400,000, but not a single winger or hooker was paid more than £350,000.

Following the Saracens scandal, which led to the club being relegated into the Championship, a comprehensive review into the salary cap was conducted by the former government minister Lord Myners.

This led to increased powers for the salary cap director, as well as an emphasis on greater openness, with all clubs subjected to an annual audit.