Toulouse’s salary cap is more than double that of the South African teams playing in the Vodacom URC and Investec Champions Cup.
The newly confirmed salary cap figures for the 2026-27 season prove just how far ahead the French club game has pulled from the rest of the world.
Reigning Top 14 champions Toulouse top the pile with a salary-cap capacity of €13.8-million (R258-million), by far the largest budget in the competition.
By contrast, SA’s URC clubs are capped at R95-million, which excludes the salaries of up to four senior marquee/loyalty players.
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Toulouse have 16 players who represented France in the past season – 15 in fifteens and one in sevens – and the club is rewarded handsomely for it under the LNR’s credit system.
Champions Cup winners Bordeaux Bègles sit second with a cap of €12.72-million (R237-million), boosted by 10 internationals (nine in fifteens).
Toulon complete the top three on €12.18-million (R227-million), having supplied six players to Fabien Galthié’s national squad and one to sevens.
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The gap between Toulouse at the top and the clubs at the bottom of the pile is a staggering €2.7-million (R50-million).
At the other end of the scale, Castres, Perpignan and Vannes all sit on the league-minimum €11.1-million (R207-million), having contributed no players to the France Test squad and one each to sevens.
2026-27 French Top 14 salary cap rankings
1. Toulouse €13,800,000 (R258-million)
2. Bordeaux-Bègles €12,720,000 (R237-million)
3. Toulon €12,180,000 (R227-million)
4. La Rochelle €12,160,000 (R227-million)
5. Pau €12,000,000 (R224-million)
6. Clermont €11,640,000 (R217-million)
7. Lyon €11,640,000 (R217-million)
8. Montpellier €11,460,000 (R214-million)
9. Racing 92 €11,460,000 (R214-million)
10. Stade Français €11,280,000 (R211-million)
11. Bayonne €11,280,000 (R211-million)
12. Castres €11,100,000 (R207-million)
13. Perpignan €11,100,000 (R207-million)
14. Vannes €11,100,000 (R207-million)
Photo: @StadeToulousain/X
