So much for developing young talent to build towards the next World Cup; the essence of the forthcoming Rugby Championship (the one starring New Zealand not Nottingham) is experience.
Evergreen and gold
Hence Robbie Deans recalled the evergreen George Smith to the green and gold of Australia for the Lions series. Hence Argentina retains the fading magic of Felipe Contepomi. The experienced players have a role mentoring the team; their significance goes way beyond the team sheet on a match day.
That is why - if fit - Adam Jones is a banker for the next World Cup. He may be mid 30s by the time of England 2015 but he does not have excessive mileage on the rugby clock. Like the great names already mentioned his vast knowledge will be a formidable weapon in the Welsh bid to win their first World Cup.
In a team full of power and dynamism, his athleticism is not the question; his technique, however, might be a potent answer in a pool with Australia still seeking someone to stabilise their scrum.
At the time of writing, Australia are favourites to be eliminated from the pool with Wales and England dominating their set piece. There is plenty of time for that to change and with Ewen McKenzie at the helm it probably will. He has gone on record as saying that the Wallaby scrum is not quite the wobbly worry that some think it.
Ben Alexander rebounded from the pounding Alex Corbisiero gave him but is that simply a matter of Alexander's character or the scrum deficit in much of the Southern Hemisphere?
McKenzie will alter the Aussie style of play with an extra element of Queensland fluency. James O' Connor will be put out of his misery and moved back to the wider parts of the field where he is amongst the best players on the planet.
Quade Cooper will presumably be reunited with Will Genia and Australia hopes they will be reignited as they attempt to regain the Bledisloe Cup from a New Zealand team that have the Wallabies in a psychological neck lock.
Decamping
Argentina will seek to scrum South Africa into trouble but keep an eye out for Coenie Oosthuizen. Here is a prop that would be worshipped in the scrum obsessed world of French club rugby.
He is not heading for Europe but Springboks like Habana, Morne Steyn, Juandre Kruger, Jano Vermaark and Chiliboy Ralepelli are France-bound and will make it even harder for the British and Irish contingent to regain the Heineken Cup.
The Argentines have a lot of men decamping in England when the international dust settles. Bath have signed prop forward, Juan Pablo Orlandi while Worcester has the services of Agustin Creevy, the former Montpellier hooker as well as Senatore, the Puma number eight.
Behind the scrum Leicester will watch Gonzalo Camacho, Saracens Marcello Bosch, while the new French champions, Castres (who said money rules?) will have their fingers crossed that Santiago Fernandez gets through this brutal tournament safely and in form.
The 2013 Rugby Championship is going to be worth the watch for so many reasons. The Lions lit up the world game when they ignited in the second half of the third test in Sydney, here's hoping these four teams can fan the flames of the international game at the midway point between World Cups.
