Wallabies lock Rory Arnold is poised to sign a three year, $4.5 million club deal in Japan that will make him the fifth highest paid player in world rugby.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported today that Rugby Australia “did not want to insult” Arnold with an offer worth less than half of that.
The 2.08m giant played for the Brumbies until 2019 when he took up a lucrative contract in France with Toulouse.
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The 31-year-old returned to the Test fold last year and remains a key cog in Dave Rennie’s 2023 Rugby World Cup plans as eligibility rules are loosened.
The $1.5m per season deal will catapult Arnold ahead of Adam Coleman, Samu Kerevi and Michael Hooper as the highest paid Australian player.
Jerome Kaino, the All Blacks great turned Toulouse breakdown coach, raved about Arnold in an interview with Wide World of Sports last year.
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“I always knew he was quite an intelligent player and a real force at the set-piece area. Obviously quite rangy and he’s got a bit of gas on him as well,” Kaino said.
“He’s a natural leader now in our team. He controls everything around the lineout…
“When he first arrived he wasn’t really much of an off-loader or ball playing type second row. Now he’s one of our main pivots when we’re playing backs off forwards. Rory’s good with ball in hand into contact but I think he’s added a string to his bow by being that ball-player type forward. Having someone that big with that skill set is incredible for us and it works wonders for the way we want to play here in Toulouse.”
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