Springbok star Faf de Klerk is widely regarded as one of the most well-paid players in the the rugby world, with various outlets having suggested he is on a salary of around £900,000 (roughly R21,3 million) at Canon Eagles, having joined the Japan club the year before the 2023 World Cup.
De Klerk made the move to play in Japan from English club, the Sale Sharks, with director of rugby Alex Sanderson telling The Times back then that that the Premiership’s reduced £5 million salary cap was a huge factor that made it virtually impossible to retain De Klerk’s services.
“The most difficult thing (about the reduced salary cap) is that you want to keep them all, but you can’t. Even if you do want to keep them, you are not going to be offering them as much as a French club or a Japanese club. It has been pretty brutal and it is part of the job.
“Faf hasn’t left yet but the reality is that he could get offered £1m from Japan and that is the nature of the game. That challenge of fitting into the salary cap is quite exciting, but it is not numbers on a page – it is someone’s life and aspirations. Players have a finite time in their career and need to get paid market value, or somewhere near, and if we can’t deliver that then I cannot control it.”
Faf de Klerk has continued to raise his profile after winning another World Cup with the Springboks
The Springbok scrumhalf featured in over 100 games for the Sale Sharks before the leaving the club to ply his trade Japan, where he always hoped to spend some time during his career.
Although the 32-year-old has been happy at the Canon Eagles, the back-to-back Rugby World Cup winner has apparently now come onto the radar of several European clubs who are looking for a world-class scrumhalf.
However, according to a report on Rugby Pass, “Canon Eagles have made him one of the world’s best-paid players, picking up around £900,000 a year”, and it means it’s unlikely he will be leaving the Japan market any time soon.
Recovering from injury
Meanwhile, back in February, it was revealed that the veteran scrumhalf had to undergo knee surgery, and the expectation is that he will be out of action for quite some time.
“I’m really disappointed that I must receive surgery on my knee, but I can’t wait to get back on the field with the Eagles family as soon as possible,” he posted on social media. “I will work really hard, but ask that everyone please support the team. Arigato.”
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