The financial directors of Top 14 clubs will have a little additional leeway. The National Rugby League (LNR) validated on Wednesday an increase to 11 million euros in the “salary cap”, the maximum payroll authorized for each team in the French Championship next season. Currently the ceiling was located at 10.7 million euros. It also provides for a reduction in “international credits” for clubs with players from the French XV.
From the 2026-2027 season, this ceiling will therefore increase by 300,000 euros, approved the LNR steering committee, validating negotiations initiated with the teams since 2025. Objective stated for the League: to offer “reinforced workforce management capacity and better distribution of playing time”, in order to “preserve the health of the players”. This increase will be accompanied by the removal of the ceiling of 35 professional contracts per club.
For the following three years, until the 2029-2030 season, the NRL steering committee also approved an increase in the salary cap of 100,000 euros per season, which would bring it to 11.3 million euros.
Drop in “international credits”
At the same time, the steering committee decided to adjust the overall amount of “international credits” allowing clubs with numerous players selected for the French team to have a higher payroll, in order to compensate for their presence in the blue jersey. And this from the 2027-2028 season.
Currently 180,000 euros per player registered on the “premium” list announced by the FFR at the start of the season, these credits would now decrease in increments of 15,000 euros, starting at 210,000 euros for the first player selected. With a maximum credit of 1.575 million euros when 14 or more players are involved.
For a club like Stade Toulouse, the main breeding ground for the French XV, which currently receives some 2.7 million euros in international credits, this sum could therefore drop to around 1.6 million euros. To avoid such a sudden drop, however, the League plans to limit the maximum drop that a club could suffer from one season to the next to 300,000 euros. Approved in principle, this reduction in international credits must be officially validated by a subsequent steering committee.
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