Your complete guide to the top five highest-paid rugby players in the 2023 Six Nations, including who earns the most.
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All figures mentioned are before tax and do not include the array of bonuses and extra fees stashed away in the fine print of every contract.
Players’ various sponsorship deals are also not included but, in some cases, add extra zeroes to the end of their pay cheques.
Highest-paid players in the 2023 Six Nations
#5. Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs) – £580,000 per season
The Scottish captain is said to have increased his annual salary by approximately £200,000 after leaving Glasgow Warriors for Exeter Chiefs following the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Stuart Hogg facts:
Hogg got married in 2016 to long-term partner Gill and they have three children together, Archie, Olivia and George.
JK Rowling once said Hogg would be a squib in the Harry Potter universe, which means he is wizard born with no magical powers. However, the author later changed her statement and said the Scottish star would be a wizard.
Hogg received back-to-back Player of the Six Nations awards, in 2016 and 2017
His guilty pleasure is watching Countdown and he says: “I’m the king of three- or four-letter words.”
Hogg’s brother Graham played for Scotland in the World Sevens Series
#4. Owen Farrell (England) – £800,000 per season
In 2020, the England captain signed a contract with Saracens that will keep him there until the 2023 World Cup at the minimum.
Recent rumours claimed that he signed a lucrative new deal raising his salary to approximately £820,000, but these reports could not be verified.
However, it was previously disclosed that he deferred 90% of his salary to assist the club during the Covid-19 pandemic’s financial impact.
Owen Farrell facts
The Saracens star went to school with England teammate George Ford
His education began in rugby league – he joined Wigan St Patricks at the age of eight
He became the youngest ever player to appear in English professional rugby, making his debut aged 17 and 11 days. This record was later beaten by schoolmate Ford
It’s well known that Owen is the son of Ireland head coach Andy Farrell. However, it’s less commonly know that his uncle Sean O’Loughlin is also a rugby league legend, winning 34 caps for Great Britain between 1993 and 2009
He was not at first registered as a Farrell, but took mum Colleen’s family name of O’Loughlin. The couple married in 1995, changing Owen’s surname to Farrell the following year.