5. Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) \u2013\u00a0Estimated \u00a3770,000<\/p>\n
The most-capped Springbok in history remains the cornerstone of the Sharks pack. His combination of club earnings and national support keeps him among the highest-paid players in South African rugby.<\/p>\n
4. Siya Kolisi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) \u2013\u00a0Estimated \u00a3775,000<\/p>\n
The Springbok captain returned to Durban on a bumper deal after his spell in France. Combined with his immense commercial value and sponsorship appeal, Kolisi remains one of the biggest earners in the global game.<\/p>\n
3. Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) \u2013\u00a0Estimated \u00a3800,000\u2013\u00a3900,000<\/p>\n
Widely regarded as the best hooker in world rugby, Marx continues to be one of Japan Rugby League One\u2019s marquee signings. His dominance at the set-piece and breakdown has made him one of the highest-paid forwards in the sport.<\/p>\n
2. Damian de Allende (Saitama Wild Knights) \u2013\u00a0Estimated \u00a3850,000\u2013\u00a3950,000<\/p>\n
The powerful centre has been a standout performer in Japan for several seasons. A two-time Rugby World Cup winner and one of the world\u2019s most complete midfielders, De Allende is believed to be among the competition\u2019s top earners.<\/p>\n
1. Faf de Klerk (Free State Cheetahs) \u2013\u00a0Previously reported at around \u00a3900,000 in Japan<\/p>\n
Before returning to South Africa in 2026, De Klerk was widely regarded as one of the highest-paid players in world rugby thanks to his lucrative deal with Yokohama Canon Eagles. While his move back to the Cheetahs is believed to have involved a significant pay cut, his previous contract remains one of the richest ever awarded to a Springbok.<\/p>\n
EDITORS PICKS:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"5. Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) \u2013\u00a0Estimated \u00a3770,000 The most-capped Springbok in history remains the cornerstone of the Sharks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":718583,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-718582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=718582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/718583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=718582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=718582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=718582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}