You might think it appropriate for rugby union to enjoy a bit of downtime, what with the World Cup so recently concluded. But if you are a fan of northern-hemisphere rugby, and certainly if you are a player, the show goes on. Across Europe, the process of fitting international stars back into club teams has begun, and it will need to be complete by the weekend after next.

The 17th edition of the Heineken Cup was launched at Twickenham on Monday, and the first shots in the tournament will be fired across the second weekend of November, just three weeks after matters were wound up in New Zealand. Europe's premier club competition is expecting things to be enlivened by the presence of 270 players who went to the World Cup.

So when can a World Cup star from this end of the world expect a break?

"I've had it," said Dylan Hartley, Northampton's hooker and captain, who recently returned from England's ill-fated campaign. "The flight back from New Zealand. Twenty-four hours on a plane with my feet up! It was good. But I don't really want a rest at the moment. I just want to get back playing every week."

Northampton's case is particularly interesting, in light of last season's Heineken Cup final. They destroyed Leinster in the first half at the Millennium Stadium and went into the break 22-6 up, only to be destroyed themselves in the second, to the tune of 27 points without reply. Cue much musing among press and public on the question of fatigue. That day, four of Northampton's side were starting their 32nd match of the season.

"We were having to win our last few games to make the Premiership play-offs," said Jim Mallinder, Northampton's director of rugby. "By the time we got to the semi-final of the Premiership and then the final of the Heineken Cup, we were on our last legs, really. But we gave it our best shot and I'm proud of the way we played. I still struggle to watch the game. In the first half we were tremendous. Then we got in at half-time, I looked round, and we were tired. We'd given it absolutely everything in that first 40 minutes. I've never seen our changing room like it."

It is a defeat that has haunted both men since. "You wake up at five in the morning and think, 'What if?'" says Hartley. "It's an opportunity gone, but you need to lose some big games to learn. That sort of pain will spur us on."

Mallinder and Hartley both mused on how hard it was for the season to end there. There was no chance to go over it or to make amends the following week. Those involved in the World Cup were spirited away to their respective national training camps, and they have only just come back. And what is Northampton's opening Heineken Cup fixture this season? Munster at Thomond Park.

Just as exciting a prospect, though, is Saints' following game, a home tie against the Scarlets, who have a host of young Welshmen enjoying their newfound status as global stars. The Scarlets, too, have a hooker, not quite so young but young enough still to be dreaming big, who just wants to get back into action. Matthew Rees was meant to be Wales's captain at the World Cup, but a neck injury denied him. Now he is fit again.

"Having to watch Wales's games was frustrating," he said, "but I've drawn a line under that now and I'm just looking forward to getting into these big games."

The Scarlets prepare for Europe with a tasty RaboDirect Pro12 derby against the Ospreys this weekend. Leinster host Munster for a now-traditional pre-Heineken Cup fixture at the Aviva Stadium (more than 41,500 tickets have been sold) and Ulster entertain the Heineken Cup new boys, Connacht. There are full programmes, too, in the Aviva Premiership and the French Top 14.

But the real fun will begin all over again on the following weekend. There may not even be any respite from the Italians this time. Benetton Treviso are fifth in the Pro 12, having put 50 points on the Newport Gwent Dragons at home in the Veneto last weekend.

The Heineken Cup rivals the World Cup as professional rugby's great success story. Those who enjoy the luxury of watching it are blessed. It can only be hoped that they are not joined too soon by any of the current participants, their bodies racked into ruin by so demanding a schedule.