Priestland set to join the big earners after his switch to Bath

RHYS Priestland is poised to earn a staggering £290,000 next season at west country giants Bath as the Aviva Premiership hike up their salary cap to ward off interest from the French big-spenders.

The 40-times Welsh international outside-half, who announced he was taking an 18-month sabbatical from the Test arena after the recent Rugby World Cup to focus on his career at the Recreation Ground, is reported by the Daily Mail to be among the 11 top earners in the Aviva Premiership for the 2016/17 season with the salary cap in the English top flight set to increase by £1.5million over the next two seasons.

Priestland, who was understudy to Dan Biggar at the World Cup, joined Bath from the Scarlets at the end of last season as cover for England play-maker George Ford. And with the 28-year-old drafted in as back-up for English international No.10 George Ford, his decision to step away from the Test arena until the end of next season wasn’t a great surprise.

Now it seems the man who played a starring role in Wales’ march to the 2011 Rugby World Cup semi-finals is ready to be rewarded handsomely at the recreation Ground with his reported £290,000 salary next season seeing hin 11th among the Aviva Premiership high earners.

Lions wing George North, who recently signed a new contract with Northampton, ending speculation about a possible return to Wales, is eighth on the list with his new deal at Franklin’s Gardens next season reportedly worth £300,000 a year for the 55-times capped winger.

There had been talk about him possibly returning home on a WRU dual contract, with the Scarlets initially saying they would welcome him back , while Cardiff Blues also indicated they would be interested in a player of his quality.

Now the issue of his future has b e en resolved with the announcement from the Saints at the end of last month.

But the eye-popping wages of North and Priestland have been dwarfed by Leicester and England centre Manu Tuilagi, whose deal to stay at Welford Road is understood to be worth £425,000 a year, despite an ‘ obscene’ offer from Worcester.

Tuilagi is laying claim to be the Premiership’s biggest ever earner, after Sam Burgess’s brief spell at Bath netted him more than £600,000 during a 10-month stay.

The increase in the cap from next season will take the richest clubs’ potential wage bill close to £10m with provision for two marquee players outside the cap.

And there is additional funding; homegrown players credits, set to rise to £600,000 over the next two seasons; a new England senior player allowance of up to £80,000 per person to cover absence through international duty on Premiership weekends; and a £400,000 fund to cover long-term injuries.

While the figures are still a fraction of those seen in top-flight professional football, New Zealand World Cup winner Dan Carter will make his Racing Metro debut against Northampton in the European Champions Cup next Saturday after signing a deal worth £1.4m a year.