Salary cap
Country Competition Cap ( in euros ) Cap ( local currency ) Cap Introduced Exclusions from cap
France Top 14 10.0m 10.0m 2010-11 Youth players earning no more than €50,000
England Premiership 8.7m 7.6m 1999-2000 Two players per club
Wales Pro14 3.9m 3.5m 2012-13 Academy players Cap charge for National Dual Contract players is 40% of total salary
Australia New Zealand Super Rugby 3.6m 5.5m ( from 2019 ) 2011 None
New Zealand NPC 0.6m 1.0m 2006 None
USA Canada Major League Rugby 0.5m 2018 None
In rugby union
Salary caps and currency conversions accurate as of August 2017 [ update ] .
In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Several sports leagues have implemented salary caps, using it to keep overall costs down, and also to maintain a competitive balance by restricting richer clubs from entrenching dominance by signing many more top players than their rivals. Salary caps can be a major issue in negotiations between league management and players' unions because they limit players' and teams' ability to negotiate higher salaries even if a team is operating at significant profits, and have been the focal point of several strikes by players and lockouts by owners and administrators.