When Wales' best rugby players will play for their…

When Wales' best rugby players will play for their clubs again as every man's South Africa workload revealed

Wales' summer tour to South Africa is in the books and attention now turns to preparations for the next campaign.

Welsh clubs have had their players in for pre-season before their international stars even returned home from their three-Test showdown with the world champions.

There is just a month to go until the pre-season fixtures start rolling in for Welsh teams and before we know it the United Rugby Championship will be back underway. However, as yet, there is no indication when the new season is starting or when the fixtures will be released, though the Gallagher Premiership put their new schedule out this week.

So what happens to Wales' best players and when will they be seen in action again?

Well, first things first, players involved in Wales' summer tour are being afforded two weeks off completely to go away on holiday, get married, or just generally recharge their batteries.

Then they have a three-week period of reconditioning which they will do outside of their clubs and off their own backs.

That takes us up to August 22, when they will report for training with their club sides. From there, precisely when the players are thrown back into action is at the discretion of the clubs themselves.

A handful of stars didn't feature during the tour to South Africa and they will likely be playing again pretty quickly, possibly even featuring in the final pre-season matches.

Players like George North, who played every second of the trip, will be afforded a few more weeks off. It will be managed on a case by case basis depending on the individual workloads of the players during the summer.

If we assume that the season kicks off on September 16, which is a week after the final pre-season matches, then there is a good chance that a fair chunk of the Wales internationals who featured this summer will be called upon. But, again, that is up to the head coaches at the four regions and players will be managed individually.

It's worth noting that this approach will only be adopted for players who are at Welsh regions. Those based in the Gallagher Premiership will not be managed as carefully and will likely be required for duty on day one of the Gallagher Premiership season, if selected.

That contingent includes captain Dan Biggar (Northampton), Louis Rees-Zammit (Gloucester), Tommy Reffell (Leicester), Nick Tompkins and Sam Wainwright (Saracens).

Playing minutes on the summer tour to South Africa...

240 mins - Liam Williams, George North

234 - Louis Rees-Zammit

219 - Nick Tompkins

214 - Tommy Reffell, Will Rowlands

210 - Adam Beard

206 - Josh Adams

200 - Dan Biggar

185 - Dillon Lewis

160 - Taulupe Faletau

157- Gareth Thomas

144 - Kieran Hardy