There's occasionally a sentiment in sport that you don't retire from your country, your country retires you.
In the world of football, where club tends to rule over country, that's something of an outdated notion. But, in the international-focused world of rugby union, that ideology has largely remained the norm.
You don't tend to see players publicly call time on their international careers to prolong their club future, as you do in football. It's just that, at some point or another, you're no longer picked.
However, the last 40 days have proven that may no longer be the case, particularly in Wales. In many ways, the last month and a half has been unprecedented.
In a relatively short space of time, seven Welsh internationals have all, for one reason or another, been ruled out of Wales' World Cup preparation.
If you extend that timeframe back to 50 days, it's eight with the retirement of Josh Navidi, given how important he previously was to Warren Gatland's Wales. However, he had spent a year trying to recover from a neck injury before finally calling it a day.
The fact that he was forced to finish entirely makes his situation different to the other seven.
Ross Moriarty, Joe Hawkins, Justin Tipuric, Alun Wyn Jones, Rhys Webb, Rhys Carre and Cory Hill will all carry on playing though, just not for Wales in France later this year. Baring Carre, the other six arguably all boil down to the pull of the Welsh jersey not being as it once was in a time when rugby as a whole is beset by insecurity.
Hawkins was the first to be ruled out, when the centre was missing from Wales' 54-man training squad. The Exeter-bound centre was captured by the 25-cap rule after his move away from the Ospreys was confirmed.
His omission continues to be a contentious one, with the 20-year-old having established himself as Wales' first-choice 12 during the Six Nations.
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Some feel Hawkins has been hard done by and was simply used as someone to make an example of. Welsh rugby bosses were understood to have initially told players around the time of the proposed strike action that Will Rowlands wouldn't be available for Wales at the World Cup, but he does in fact get to continue his international career, despite joining Racing 92 next season. Some find that frustrating when Hawkins' fate has been seemingly so harsh, but the Professional Rugby Board issued a statement on May 1 to explain the difference between the two situations, as they judge it.
Eligibility has always been a sticky point for many. There were recently reports in the Times that another uncapped youngster had considered feigning illness if he had been called up last autumn, as he was contemplating a move outside Wales and wanted to leave before his first cap to remain eligible.
That's a stark situation, and begs the question of whether the 25-cap rule - which should protect the interests of the four professional sides and the national team - is functional amid the uncertainty in this country.
Hawkins says he was "significantly underpaid" at the Ospreys, and has clearly made the move to secure his own future.
Wherever you stand on whether the Professional Rugby Board were right to stop him from playing for Wales, the player was only putting security first at a time when many feel that's more likely outside of this country.
For Gatland, it simply means he's got to find a new inside centre option, having committed plenty of time bedding Hawkins in as a starter earlier in the year.
On the same day that Hawkins' absence became apparent, Gatland also revealed that Moriarty had made himself unavailable for selection for personal reasons.
The former Dragons back-rower had left Newport before the end of the season to join Brive. However, with the French season starting in August, Moriarty recently having become a dad and now trying to settle into life in France, a summer spent in training camps isn't what the abrasive back-row needs right now.
There's no guarantee Moriarty would have been selected, given he had seemed out of favour under both Gatland and Wayne Pivac in the last year, but he certainly offered Wales something they were missing.
Gatland had noted after the news about Moriarty that Wales perhaps had a lot of similar talent in the back-row - specifically on the openside.
Those words almost turned prophetic as one of his opensides then opted to retire from Test rugby 19 days after being named in the training squad. What made Tipuric's retirement from the international game all the more remarkable was that roughly 80 minutes later, Test rugby's most-capped player also called time on his Wales career.
For talismanic second-row Jones, the reasons are still largely unclear. The likeliest motive would be uncertainty over making the final 33, but a steadfast refusal to speak to the media while on Barbarians duty means that any clarity is unlikely to be offered soon.
What is clear that, having spent much of the last World Cup cycle attempting to reach the tournament for a fifth time, it all ended in a premature, slightly anti-climactic fashion.
According to some team-mates, Jones had suggested on several occasions throughout the last year that he might not reach the World Cup.
Obviously, unlike some others, Jones hasn't called time on his Test career to secure his international future, although he may well be looking for a new club contract somewhere after leaving the Ospreys.
As for Tipuric, the former had a foot injury that finished his club season to contend with, while it's understood that Wales camp wasn't as enjoyable as it once was for the openside. As such, going out on his own terms rather than commit to a arduous summer of camps made sense.
When the Ospreys flanker rang Gatland to inform the Wales coach of his decision, he wasn't even aware that the second-row was making the same call.
They say things come in threes and, amid the warning of more retirements on the way, scrum-half Webb would be the next to finish his Test career at the end of the month.
Webb's own decision to finish with Wales is, in some ways, an odd one. It's clear that the scrum-half wants a longer-term deal that isn't on offer at the Ospreys, with a move to France now on the cards.
However, having worked so hard to play for his country again, it's telling that Webb opted to retire from the international game when he has more caps than required to play for Wales while employed outside of the country. It is a decision he's happy with though.
Of course, if Biarritz is the destination as expected, then it's likely the Pro D2 side will want him available as soon as possible - with the French domestic season starting on August 18.
At the end of that week, the Welsh squad lost another Rhys, in loose-head prop Carre. The Cardiff man was dropped from the squad for failing to meet individual performance targets, one of which was a weight target.
Carre had previously been dropped by Pivac, with weight being the issue given at the time, but this situation was different. This time, the prop was called up to the training squad, then dismissed on his own without even joining up with camp.
Naturally, that process of being singled out rather than simply left out among anyone else focuses the gaze on the prop. Both the decision and the nature of the statement were criticised in some quarters as Wales lost another squad member.
Now, in the last few days, another has gone. And, the latest is perhaps the most obvious example of a player putting their club future ahead of their international ambitions.
Second-row Hill has spent the last two years in Japan, having seemingly ended his Test career when he left Wales back in 2021 while short of the 60 caps required to be eligible while playing abroad. The player, it should be noted, also left Welsh rugby under a dark cloud back after being involved in an unsavoury incident which resulted in a woman's home getting damaged.
However, the change to 25 caps made him available and Gatland wasted little time in bringing him back in for the World Cup training camps. Shortly after, it was announced he was leaving Japan, with Hill on the lookout for a move back to Wales.
There had been initial interest from the regions, with it being understood that Hill was currently looking at houses back in his home country.
However, ultimately none of the four professional sides opted to offer Hill a deal, in part due to the restricted finances. WalesOnline has heard of another second-row looking for a deal in Wales at the moment with only £20,000 or £30,000 on offer in some places.
There was one contract on the table for Hill, however. Unfortunately for his World Cup hopes, it was outside of Wales.
His new club hasn't been revealed yet, but it seems likely to be France or Japan. Hill hasn't taken the decision lightly, with the second-row still harbouring ambitions to play for Wales again.
Right now, though, he's had to take the only deal on offer so he can support his family. It's understood that the rest of the Wales squad were told at the start of the week.
Gatland has admitted recently that the pull of the Wales jersey simply isn't enough anymore. The unprecedented nature of the last 40 days certainly goes to show that.
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