When the Rugby World Cup reaches its climax in a few weeks, a host of players at the tournament will return to domestic action in the Premiership.
The new season begins this Friday when Bristol Bears take on Leicester Tigers at Ashton Gate, although we have to wait until at least next month to see the bulk of the big names return from international duty.
Among those are a mix of new arrivals to the league, established faces already on the international scene and players who have been making their World Cup debuts.
BBC Sport takes a look at the top internationals to watch in the Premiership this season.
The new arrivals
Undoubtedly, the headline name making his Premiership debut this autumn is Scotland and British and Irish Lions fly-half Finn Russell.
The 31-year-old announced he would be joining Bath last December after five seasons with three-times Champions Cup winners Racing 92. The influential playmaker is the marquee signing Bath director of rugby Johann van Graan hopes will help transform the club into contenders again, after a number of seasons at the bottom of the table.
Another player transferring from France is Fijian lock Temo Mayanavanua, who is set to join Northampton from Lyon. The 25-year-old has come on as a replacement in three of Fiji’s group games as the Pacific islanders reached the quarter-finals for only the third time.
Wales prop Dillon Lewis is also making the switch to the Premiership and joining Harlequins from Cardiff Rugby. Lewis, who won his 50th cap for Wales this spring, will remain eligible for his country despite the move over the border.
And arguably, two of Bristol’s new signings should be at the World Cup.
Argentine forward Santiago Grondona joins having spent the second half of last season with Pau in France – although he did begin the campaign with Exeter Chiefs so does have Premiership experience. He was named in the Pumas’ World Cup squad but suffered a knee injury in August which ruled him out of the tournament.
Meanwhile, centre Virimi Vakatawa, the Bears’ latest recruit, has been capped 31 times by France but was barred from playing for the nation due to a heart condition which also prevented him from playing for Racing 92.
Bristol say Vakatawa has been granted clearance to return after “an independent review by an expert panel of leading sports cardiologists”.
The established stars
There are plenty of World Cup internationals who have called the Premiership home for years.
South Africa duo Jasper Wiese (Leicester) and Andre Esterhuizen (Harlequins) have been steady presences in the English top flight for the past three years, both being crowned champions with Tigers and Quins and are both representing the Springboks at a World Cup for the first time.
Steven Luatua might have more than 100 appearances for Bristol to his name but the flanker won only his fourth cap for Samoa when he walked out against Chile in their second group match, having switched allegiances earlier this year from his birth-country New Zealand.
Tonga centre Solomone Kata joined the small pool of players who have played at a World Cup in both rugby league and union and he will swap Exeter for Leicester this season after moving to the Premiership last summer.
Wales winger Louis Rees-Zammit has been scoring tries for Gloucester since he was in their academy and is one of only five players to score five tries or more at this World Cup so far, with the quarter-finals to come.
And alongside him at the Cherry and Whites is centre Chris Harris, who has been a continual presence for Scotland since his debut in 2017 and earned his 46th cap at this World Cup.
The Argentine enclave
After England, Argentina is the nation best represented in the Premiership, with 12 members of their World Cup squad calling the league home.
Pumas captain and hooker Julian Montoya has been a Leicester stalwart for the past three seasons, while veteran hooker Agustin Creevy – Argentina’s most-capped player and the first to reach a century of appearances for the nation – joins Sale this year following the collapse of London Irish on his return from France.
However, it is Newcastle and Gloucester who boast the most Argentina internationals in their set-ups with four and three apiece, including fly-half Santiago Carreras on the Cherry and Whites’ books and winger and namesake Mateo Carreras at the Falcons.
Like Creevy, flanker Juan Martin Gonzalez and centre Lucio Cinti are two others who will start the season with a new club following the demise of London Irish, with both moving across the capital to join the array of international talent at Saracens.
Saracens’ heavyweights
Reigning Premiership champions Sarries might be known for their wealth of England internationals, with captain Owen Farrell and lock Maro Itoje among the 13 members of Steve Borthwick’s squad.
But, on top of Gonzalez and Cinti, the club count another four players in France across four nations.
Flanker Theo McFarland and centre Nick Tompkins have both made their World Cup debuts for Samoa and Wales respectively, as has 25-year-old prop Marco Riccioni, who won his 26th cap for Italy during the group stages.
Meanwhile, fellow front-rower Eroni Mawi is a regular for Fiji and at his second World Cup for the nation, after playing in 18 games during Saracens’ title-winning campaign last season.
