By Bryn Palmer BBC Sport Online

As Percy Montgomery and Thinus Delport run out for the Barbarians against Wales at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on Wednesday, they may care to savour the moment.

For having effectively relinquished their Test careers, international occasions on foreign fields will become a thing of the past for the South African pair.

Six months ago they were competing for the Springbok number 15 jersey on an end-of-season tour of France and Italy.

Next season their rivalry may extend to the Heineken Cup, the green-and-gold of South Africa having been traded for black-and-amber, and cherrry-and-white, respectively.

Teichmann led Newport to the Principality Cup last year

Montgomery, having declared his intention to sign for Newport, is turning his back on the Western Cape for the joys of the Welsh Valleys.

And Delport, a year younger than Montgomery at 27, is swapping the coastal climes of Natal for England's West Country having agreed a two-year deal with Gloucester.

They are the latest additions to a flood of South African imports that shows no sign of abating in the current financial climate.

Almost an entire team of ex-Springboks will ply their trade in the Zurich Premiership and Celtic League next season, making them by far the southern hemisphere's most popular export.

Montgomery will be tracing a well-worn path to Rodney Parade, former Springbok captain Gary Teichmann having started the Welsh trend two years ago.

While an acrimonious sacking from the national side led to his departure from South Africa, Teichmann was also nearing the end of a distinguished career.

Delport will be in the cherry-and-white of Gloucester next season

Prop Adrian Garvey also opted for the lucrative pay day on offer in Gwent after the 1999 World Cup signalled the end of both their Test careers.

And the pursuit of Montgomery suggests Newport's milllionaire backer Tony Brown has not been put off by Joost van der Westhuizen's non-arrival in Wales last year.

Pieter Muller, at 33, was another with fading international prospects tempted by a leading Welsh club, becoming a regular in Cardiff's midfield.

For others such as hookers Naka Drotske (London Irish) and Charl Marais (Sale), Leeds duo Japie Mulder and Braam van Straaten, and Northampton lock Johan Ackerman, the prospect of extending Test careers into their 30s was similarly remote.

But for Montgomery, Delport, former captain Andre Vos, who is heading to Harlequins, prop Robbie Kempson (Ulster) and Pieter Rossouw (London Irish), the decision has come at what should be the peak of their careers.

And outstanding flanker Rassie Erasmus would have followed Rossouw to Reading were it not for a recent recall to the Springbok fold.

'Cash incentive'

In the professional era, a weak South African rand and a player's wish to secure his financial future appears to carry far greater weight than the status of the Springbok shirt.

New South Africa coach Rudi Straeuli said as much recently when he poured scorn on claims by Montgomery's agent that the quota system used in South Africa was also a factor.

"The player is going because of the cash incentive," Straeuli said. "It means more to him to earn pounds than it does for him to play for the Springboks."

If the benefactors bank-rolling leading English and Welsh clubs continue to delve deep in their taste for foreign fare, the Springbok is set to remain the most widespread Test match animal roaming the British rugby landscape.