English clubs have spent heavily to sign up illustrious names following the advent of professionalism in the northern hemisphere in 1995.
Among the leading internationals tempted by highly lucrative contracts are All Black great Zinzan Brooke at Harlequins and Frenchman Thomas Castaignede and Australian Tim Horan at Saracens.
But the players' arrivals have come at a heavy cost with most clubs struggling to make profits.
England forward Lawrence Dallaglio recently signed a three-year deal with Wasps which was reported in the British media to be worth in excess of 700,000 pounds ($992,900).
Other senior England players can expect to draw annual salaries from their club contracts and related deals ranging between 150,000 and 200,000 pounds depending on experience.
But the dispute has arisen over the contracts with the Rugby Football Union (RFU) over the players' pay and rights at international level.
The six million pound deal tabled by the RFU and rejected by the players on Tuesday would have given the England regulars an average of an additional 60,000 pounds per year.
Forty percent of the deal depends on the performance of the players on the pitch and it is this that the players found unacceptable.
Intellectual property (IP) rights, governing the use of the players' images for sponsorship purposes, are another sticking point.
"The deal would have probably made them the highest paid internationals in the world," RFU chief executive Francis Baron said in a statement.
Unlike the clubs, the RFU are now showing a handsome profit after years of debts running into millions of pounds.
A combination of redundancies and shrewd marketing has turned that situation around with a recent 87.5 million pound broadcasting deal with Sky television further swelling the coffers.
Other unions, notably Australia and New Zealand, have different methods of paying their squads, but all rely heavily on bonuses to reward on-pitch success.
League convert Jason Robinson is England's only centrally contracted player with half his salary paid by the RFU, whereas the All Blacks are all tied to deals with their union.
When Jonah Lomu threatened to leave the All Blacks and join English club side Bristol, it was his ability to exploit huge IP rights that he claimed was his main motivation in going.
Former RFU secretary Tony Hallett is furious that the situation has been allowed to develop into a very public crisis.
"From wherever this issues, it indicates bad management that it should become public like this," he said.
"The contracts between players and their country and clubs are an absolute mess, so the players are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
"They are clearly at the end of their patience and I can see why they have used this timing - everyone is on a high after the game against Australia and it draws attention to the issue.
"But I am filled with sadness that we can't look after a good set of players like England have now. It shouldn't have to come to this."
The players claim that the dispute is a mattter of "principle" not money but RFU chairman of Club England, Fran Cotton, said he was stunned by their rejection of the deal.
"Playing for your country should be regarded as the pinnacle of a player's career," said the former British Lions prop.
"A lot of people would play for nothing and although that isn't realistic in the professional era, what has been offered is very generous.
"Like many others I'm shocked that the players are potentially putting their England careers at risk with this decision."
Reuters
England's top rugby union players, who have gone on strike over pay, are among the best paid in the world despite financial problems in the domestic game.
