Updated 12.57
WARREN GATLAND IS set to name his Lions squad next Wednesday.
The obvious honour and prestige of being named in the 37-man squad to tour New Zealand is huge, but the earnings involved cannot be ignored.
Firstly, each player who remains in the squad for the length of the tour will receive £70,000 (€82,440), according to The Telegraph’s The Talk of Rugby. Should the Lions win the series, each player will be handed an extra £10,000 (€11,777).
This means the jackpot sits at £2.96 million (€3,486,020) for the side if they are to record a first series victory over New Zealand since 1971. The combined tour fee before adding the bonus should they win the series is £2.59 million (€3,050,267).
The 2013 tour of Australia saw each player earn a tour fee of £50,000 (€58,885), so this year sees a 40% rise. 2009 saw the fee at £38,000 (€44,753), while for the last tour of New Zealand in 2005 it was £22,000 (€25,910).
It’s understood that the details of the agreed tour payments were sent out to over 150 players in commercial contracts last week.
The 10-game tour begins on 3 June. They will play six games, before the first test against the All Blacks on 26 June.
The following two encounters are on 1 July and 8 July, in Wellington and Auckland respectively.
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