There's been a drip-feed of internationals coming back into the Irish provinces over the last three weeks of the BKT United Rugby Championship.
Tom O'Toole was the first to come back, rushed into the Ulster side during their tighthead shortage ahead of Round 2 against the Bulls, while Craig Casey and Jack Crowley were back for Munster a week later.
Last week, Ulster brought back the rest of their international contingent, Munster put Jeremy Loughman into action, while Dan Sheehan led a handful of retuning internationals as Leinster picked up a routine win away to the Dragons.
But with the Champions Cup on the horizon in early December, the doors have been flung open for Ireland's World Cup frontliners to get back out there.
After losing three of their first four games, the Scarlets already faced a daunting trip to the RDS against Leinster this evening, but any hope of catching the province in a spot of complacency would be dismissed with a look at the hosts' teamsheet.
With Interpros against Munster and Connacht to come for Leinster ahead of their Champions Cup fixtures, Leo Cullen has gone strong for his side's clash with the Scarlets, bringing eight of his Irish internationals back into the starting side, while a ninth - Tadhg Furlong - will be available off the bench.
One of those is Andrew Porter (below), who earlier this week gave an honest and interesting account of how tough he took Ireland's World Cup exit at the hands of New Zealand five weeks ago.
"I have had to deal with sleepless nights, things playing over in your head, that kind of thing," he told Jim Hamilton and Andy Goode on The Rugby Pod.
"It's just part of the game we play. We were so close so that is why it was a bit more gut-wrenching.
"I was really struggling being at home after being in such a great environment with all those incredibly special people for so long… I didn't want to do anything, I just wanted to be by myself."
It's always a challenge for the provinces to put the pieces back together following a World Cup.
For Leinster, their success at doing so has been mixed; in 2015 Ireland's World Cup disappointment coincided with Cullen's first year in the job, and while they eventually reached the final of the Pro12 where they were defeated by Connacht, their Champions Cup pool stage exit was a testament to how tough the hangover was.
By contrast, they didn't miss a beat four years ago as they won 23 straight games, and had it not been for the Covid-19 lockdown breaking their momentum it could well have gone even longer.
Having been through a painful World Cup exit as a player in 2011, Cullen knows it's a tricky period to manage.
"They've experienced something that has a certain traumatic part to it," he says, when asked about Porter's interview this week.
"I wasn't there, but watching on TV - it was a draining experience watching at home and you can only experience what the players went through and then we have to replay some of the images because the end of that World Cup period, the end of my World Cup experience [in 2011], I didn't play [against Wales] but seeing those players first-hand, that devastation after putting so much work in.
"When you get back, you've got to deal with that."
With the World Cup delaying the start of the URC, this is the fifth of 13 consecutive game-weeks for the Irish sides across URC and Champions Cup.
And while Cullen (above) - as well fellow his provincial coaches - have had their international players available for two weeks now, the Leinster coach says it's important to ease them back into action ahead of a busy schedule.
"We're all people, the care of the environment is the key," Cullen added.
"When guys come back in, it's not to flog them. It's understanding what goes on in their lives, how they come through... We've probably had more of a social focus over the last while, building that connection time and you get to have a better understanding of what's on players' minds.
"A lot of them are keen to get back in, do what they love doing which, for a lot of them, it's why they started playing in the first place and trying to get a bit of excitement around that.
"Andrew, there's the disappointment and trying to process that, but then he gets to be back at the RDS and playing in front of friends and family; having that excitement about getting going again."
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