Watch: Rugby's top five richest players of 2017

In the summer haze of transfer speculation and talk of who is going where, we decided to take a look back at the big earners from the 2017 season. The figures will change when the new season commences, as will the clubs (indeed some already have).

The sums in the video aren’t exactly shabby yet they pale in comparison to that of their football counterparts. Lionel Messi looks set to put pen to paper on a  a new contract with FC Barcelona, a four year deal worth in the region of 30 million a year. Enough to make your eye’s water, while wishing you had been better at kicking a ball of air around a field.

Anyway, that is more than enough talk about soccer. Falling just outside of the top five highest paid rugby players in descending order, starting at ten are, Manu Tuilagi (Leicester), Bryan Habana (Toulon), Charles Piutau (Ulster), Johnny Sexton (Leinster) and Ma’a Nonu (Toulon).

So without further ado here are your top five, one or two might even surprise some of you. One thing that won’t surprise anyone is the nation where all five were plying their trade.