The vast majority have gone near and far - to Ireland, England, Scotland, France, Japan, New Zealand. While some, of course, would have gone anyway, most went because of the recession which forced all four Welsh regions to impose a spartan salary cap rather than go on living beyond their means.
Despite the consequences of losing players like Lee Byrne, Mike Phillips and James Hook to France, despite Tommy Bowe returning to his spiritual Ulster home, the remodeled Ospreys still managed to defy the odds and subject Leinster to an action replay.
The 2012 RaboDirect PRO12 final at the RDS turned out to be a reprise of the one two years earlier at the same venue.
Ospreys failed to make the play-offs last season and continued to feel the pinch, losing their game-changing Samoan scrum half Kahn Fotuali'i to Northampton Saints.
At least two more internationals, both Lions, will be leaving at the end of this season, Richard Hibbard to Gloucester, Ian Evans to Toulon.
The off-field uncertainty and another abortive European campaign did nothing to suggest that the four-time champions would be equipped to stop the Irish seizing three of the top-four places.
Reunited with their smaller but still formidable Welsh international contingent, the Ospreys reintroduced themselves as contenders over Christmas by doing something which no other team managed over the festive period - successive away wins.
They went east to Cardiff before Christmas and beat the Blues in front of the Arms Park's first five-figure RaboDirect PRO12 crowd of the season.
On Boxing Day they went west to Llanelli and came from behind to overcome the Scarlets with the only try of the game before their biggest attendance of the campaign.
Almost 15,000 squeezed into 'Heart and Soul Rugby Country' at Parc y Scarlets and the Ospreys expect around 13,000 for Friday's return at the Liberty Stadium.
The two derby wins ensured they went into the New Year in third place, one point behind Leinster and eight adrift of Munster.
Nobody felt the Welsh impact on the play-off zone more uncomfortably than Ulster, forced down to fifth by their empty-handed return from Dublin.
Those describing the Ulster performance as their worst of the season are unlikely to find any argument from the province's head coach, Mark Anscombe who refused to use the absence of such hefty figures as Rory Best, Johann Muller and Nick Williams as an excuse.
Anscombe left nobody in any doubt about how he felt. He used the word poor three times in his after-match verdict, admitting 'that was as poor a display I can recall for a big game'.
This time last year, of course, Ulster reached the halfway stage way out on their own, miles clear with 47 points from a maximum 55. They had swept all before them, winning 11 in a row before Munster beat them at Thomond Park this time last year.
And who should be next up for Ulster but Munster, seven points clear at the top on the strength of ten wins from 11.
Friday's match at Ravenhill, the first between the provinces for 12 months, assumes added significance for the hosts if they are to finish in the top two and secure a play-off semi-final back in Belfast in May.
Unbeaten there since the initial setback against Glasgow Warriors in early September, Ulster will be anxious to close the gap on their ancient southern rivals in readiness for Montpellier's visit at the resumption of the European campaign the following week.
Anscombe acknowledges that 'a little more desire and fire in the belly' will be required if Ulster are to overcome tough opponents.
Munster are never more dangerous than when losing in stoppage time, their uncanny capacity to win matches from multi-phases demonstrated in successive matches before Christmas, at Perpignan and again in Cork seven days later with Hanrahan's cross-kick for Ronan O'Mahony's try against a 13-man Scarlets.
Almost 80,000 flocked to the six RaboDirect PRO12 matches over the last round of the year, a series of derby fixtures which generated the largest attendances of the season for all but one of the six home teams.
Leinster had 18,500 against Ulster, the Scarlets 14,796 against Ospreys, Edinburgh 10,125 against Glasgow, Newport Dragons 8,526 against Cardiff Blues and Treviso marginally short of 5,000 against Zebre.
The exception, Munster, still pulled in the best part of 20,000 to witness JJ Hanrahan's field day against Connacht.
The 2010 champion Ospreys and where they are now:
Lee Byrne - Clermont Auvergne
Tommy Bowe - Ulster
Andrew Bishop - Ospreys
James Hook - Perpignan
Shane Williams - Japan
Dan Biggar - Ospreys
Mike Phillips - Bayonne, now Racing Metro.
Paul James - Bath
Huw Bennett - Lyon before enforced retirement
Adam Jones - Ospreys
Alun-Wyn Jones - Ospreys
Jonathan Thomas - Worcester Warriors
Jerry Collins - Japan
Marty Holah - Waikato
Ryan Jones - Ospreys
Six of the seven substitutes for that final have also moved on -
Ed Shervington to Worcester Warriors, Ian Gough to London Irish, Filo Tiatia to Japan, Jamie Nutbrown back to New Zealand, Nikki Walker to Edinburgh, Gareth Owen to Scarlets.
Follow us on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter, sign up to our YouTube channel for extensive match highlights and sign up to our newsletter for regular updates on the RaboDirect PRO12
63x46.png){kind=logo}