Top-five most expensive rugby transfers of all time

Published on

Following Cheslin Kolbe’s record-breaking move from Toulouse to Toulon last week, we look at the top-five biggest transfers fees in rugby.

Kolbe’s mega move to Toulon will have him earn an annual salary of €1 million (R17.5m) but, with two years left on his Toulouse contract, his new club had to fork out a record-breaking fee to buy him out.

With that in mind, here are the five biggest rugby transfers in history.

1. Cheslin Kolbe – £1.5m

Last week, Toulon president Bernard Lemaitre confirmed the club had signed Cheslin Kolbe from Top 14 rivals Toulouse in a deal reportedly costing €1.8m (£1.5m) million to buy him out of his contract.

2. Louis Picamoles – £1.2m

The France No 8 left Northampton Saints to join Montpellier after just one season at Franklin’s Gardens for a record transfer fee worth £1.2m, the Guardian reported in 2017. The 31-year-old was under increasing pressure to return to the Top 14 with the French Rugby Federation (FFR) seeking to tie its leading internationals down to central contracts.

3. Va’aiga Tuigamala – £1m

In 1997, the ambitious Falcons signed the powerhouse from Wigan in a deal worth £1m ahead of the first professional Premiership season. Long story short, alongside the likes of Pat Lam and Jonny Wilkinson, Tuigamala starred as Newcastle won the title.

4. Sam Burgess and George Ford – £500,000

There were no details in the Bath statement of the financial deal made to bring Burgess back to England, but the Rabbitohs reportedly were offered a £500,000 transfer fee by the Premiership side to release the player from his contract.

The Times claimed Leicester shelled out half-a-million pounds to make sure Ford rejoined the club from Bath in 2017, a record transfer fee for a player moving between English clubs.

5. Cameron Redpath – £150,000

The centre, who has been called up for the Six Nations by Scotland, was in his second year of a five-year contract at the Sale Sharks but had struggled for game time in 2020. It was revealed that Bath have paid a six-figure transfer fee to release Redpath from his contract after unsuccessful negotiations with the player to keep him at Sale.

This compilation was published on ruck.co.uk. 

Photo: Archive

Post by

SA Rugby magazine