By James Standley

Every summer the Zurich Premiership clubs go hunting overseas in a bid to unearth the talent which will lift them to the top of the table.

Last year South African signing Jaco van der Westhuyzen was one of the few plus points for Leicester.

And formerly unheralded New Zealander Mark van Gisbergen continued his rise to prominence with champions Wasps.

Here BBC Sport looks at the overseas stars who will be looking to follow in their footsteps.

Krige is keen to make a good impression with Northampton's fans

Krige may be the most unpopular player ever in the eyes of England fans.

The ex-South Africa captain was in charge during the notorious 53-3 defeat by England in November 2002.

South Africa were shockingly ill-disciplined and Krige even managed to knock out one of his own team-mates with a wild lunge.

The flanker has apologised for over-stepping the mark but his arrival led to some Northampton fans threatening to return their season tickets.

Burke's stellar international career came to an end when he came on as a replacement in Australia's 23-19 Tri-nations defeat to South Africa.

With 81 caps, 29 tries and 878 Test points there is little doubt he is one of the best players of his generation.

Burke was one of the stars of Australia's 1999 World Cup victory, notching up 25 points in the final.

In contrast to Krige, Burke's disciplinary record is spotless and he can play anywhere along the backline.

Maddock has battled back from a serious injury

The man known as "Mad Dog" is a nuggety winger and will give Bath a cutting edge out wide.

Maddock has bounced back after injury caused him to miss the 2004 Super 12 season and at the age of 25 he has plenty of rugby left ahead of him.

Maddock is not a full international but he has played for the Canterbury Crusaders and the New Zealand Maori.

As a youngster despite being only 5ft 8in he excelled at volleyball, basketball and apparently also enjoyed Irish dancing.

Mauger is a former Crusaders team-mate of Maddock's and is the brother of New Zealand centre Aaron.

Although he has not played an international for New Zealand he has toured with the All Blacks and played two games on their 2001 European tour.

The centre made his debut for Gloucester during their comfortable pre-season win against Coventry.

He was part of the Canterbury side that won the NPC, New Zealand's domestic competition in 2001.

Rabeni is a regular for crowd favourites Fiji

Rabeni may not be a household name but he is potentially one of the most exciting arrivals in the Premiership.

A spectacular runner he also has a fine rugby brain and combines raw pace with good vision.

Rabeni started all four of Fiji's pool games in the 2003 World Cup and was part of the Pacific Islanders side which made its debut in July.

He has played in two Hong Kong Sevens and also appeared for his country in the 2002 Commonwealth Games.