One week from now the 20 biggest rugby union playing nations descend on Japan to take part in the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup. Amongst the international teams on display are a host of the biggest names in the sport and that means a group of rugby’s biggest influencers.

The highest earning rugby player is New Zealand’s full-back Beauden Barrett, who earns £1,484 per sponsored post shared with his over 453,000 followers on Instagram, according to analysis of Influencer Marketing Hub data by LiveRugbyTickets.co.uk.

Barratt is followed by England’s fly-half Owen Farrell, who has almost 260,000 followers and makes an average of £854 per post on Instagram. Third on the list Argentina’s record points scorer Nicolás Sánchez with his over 196,000 followers and £648 average earnings per post.

Ireland’s Jonathan Sexton earns £588, Italy’s most-capped player Sergio Parisse banks £396, World Rugby Player of the Year 2018 nominee and South African scrum-half Faf de Klerk rakes in £394, and Wales’ Six Nations winning captain Alun Wyn Jones picks up £290.