A handful of players are set to make some interesting history at this Rugby World Cup.
When World Rugby announced their ground-breaking change in eligibility rules back in late 2021, it opened the door for a raft of familiar faces to restart their international careers in new colours.
Tonga and Samoa have been the main beneficiaries, as expected, with multiple former All Blacks and Wallabies set to feature for the pacific island nations, but the eligibility rules have also come to the aid of bigger nations, with South Africa, Scotland and Wales picking up former internationals in the last 18 months.
Among the wider group of players, there are six who are about to become answers to quiz questions, as the first to play at World Cups with two different nations since World Rugby relaxed the 'one country for life' rule that had applied since 1997. Eight players did so in the 1990s.
Jean Kleyn
The resurrection of Kleyn's international career has been one of the more interesting sub-plots of the rugby summer in Ireland.
The Munster lock played five times for Ireland before and during the 2019 Rugby World Cup, having qualified on residency grounds following his move to the province three years earlier. His inclusion in the World Cup squad was controversial at the time, coming at the expense of Devin Toner.
Having slipped out of contention with Ireland since Andy Farrell took over, it looked like Kleyn's international career was going to be confined to those five games in 2019, but there were renewed shouts for him to be recalled to the Irish squad this summer, after he produced the best form of his career in the 2022/23 season, and playing a major part in Munster breaking their 12-year trophy drought with the URC title.
The call-up never materialised, and in a neat twist it could come back to haunt Ireland. Just days after missing out on the Ireland squad, Kleyn was approached by the Springboks about representing his native country, and having gone more then three years since his last Irish cap, he was free to join up with the world champions.
At the time, there were some petty suggestions that it was just a stunt by Rassie Erasmus to stir the pot ahead of the World Cup and steal some intel on the Irish players along the way, but the reality has been anything but.
Having made his debut for the Boks in the Rugby Championship, he's gone on to be included in their 33-man Rugby World Cup squad, and could even come up against his former international side when South Africa meet Ireland in Paris on 23 September.
Malakai Fekitoa and Adam Coleman
Having won 24 caps for the All Blacks between 2014 and 2017, Fekitoa's international career looked to be over when he left New Zealand to play in Europe with Toulon.
Born in Tonga, Fekitoa went to school in New Zealand before representing the All Blacks, and he was one of the driving forces behind World Rugby changing their eligibility rules in 2021, having spoken of his desire to represent his native country.
Fekitoa (below) is one of five former All Blacks in this Tonga squad who will face Ireland on 16 September in Nantes, with Vaea Fifita, Augustine Pulu, George Moala and Charles Piutau also changing their international allegiances.
As a member of the 2015 World Cup winning squad, Fekitoa is the only one of those All Black converts who comes with World Cup experience.
After his transfer was cleared by World Rugby, Fekitoa has won eight caps for Tonga and looks set to be a key member of their World Cup squad, particularly given his inside knowledge from last season at Munster.
Coleman won 38 caps for his native Australia between 2016 and 2019, playing four games for the Wallabies at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan before his move to London Irish saw him overlooked by the Aussie selectors.
The second row is the son of former Tonga captain Pau'u Afeaki, and is the latest major recruit by the Ikale Tahi.
Having been drafted in late, Coleman is still yet to make his debut for his new national side, but was included in an exciting 33-man squad by head coach Toutai Kefu.
"This is obviously a different class of side compared to teams we have had in the past and it provides us with some massive X-factor," the Tonga coach said.
Christian Leali'ifano and Charlie Faumuina - Samoa
While Tonga have made some exciting additions to their squad via the birthright rule, it still looks like being a tall order for them to cause a shock and turn over one of South Africa, Ireland or Scotland.
Samoa, however, have benefitted to the point that they look like a dark horse to sneak into a quarter-final, having completed a solid warm-up campaign with an impressive showing against Ireland.
Former All Black Lima Sopoaga is likely to take the starting out-half gig for Samoa, and impressed in the 10 shirt on debut against Ireland last Saturday, but with Christian Leali'ifano also linking up with the team, the Samoans now have real experienced depth in the most crucial position on the pitch.
Now 35, the former Ulster out-half has been back playing Super Rugby with Moana Pasifika since 2022, and having won the last of his 26 Australian caps at the 2019 tournament, declared for Samoa this summer.
On top of that experience at out-half, Samoa have also been able to beef up their pack. Steven Luatua and Ben Lam have availed of the new ruling, but the biggest addition in the forwards is undoubtedly Charlie Faumuina.
He may be 36-years-old and playing his final games before retirement, but few tightheads can boast the same CV as Faumuina, who played 50 times for the All Blacks and won a World Cup in 2015, before joining Toulouse where he was able to play a key role in three Top14 titles and a Champions Cup in 2021.
Jack Dempsey - Scotland
After played two games for Australia at the 2019 World Cup in Japan, it's no major shock that Jack Dempsey is heading to the tournament for a second time. What's surprising is that it's for Scotland rather than Australia.
After realising his face didn't fit under new Australia coach Dave Rennie in 2020, Dempsey didn't waste time before looking for a new adventure.
It's hard to know if he anticipated a relaxing of World Rugby's eligibility rules when he moved from the Waratahs to the Glasgow Warriors in the summer of 2021, but within a few months of arriving in Scotland, his route back to Test rugby was mapped out ahead of him.
Qualifying for the Scots via ancestry, the combative back row forward was brought into the setup at the earliest opportunity by Gregor Townsend, appropriately making his debut against his native Australia in October 2022, just a couple of weeks after his three-year stand down period expired.
The 29-year-old has made himself a key player for Scotland already playing, in 12 of his side's last 13 Test matches, and scored his first try in their final warm-up game against Georgia last month.
