Ben Donnell aiming to make impact for Ulster after joining province from Cardiff

Donnell can play in any of the back five positions in the pack and starts Friday’s pre-season friendly against the Ospreys (19.45 BST) in the second row.

He has endured a former club going into administration and an unfortunate run of injuries which limited his pitch time to just one start and four appearances off the bench for Cardiff last season.

However, Donnell doesn’t see the move to Ulster as his rebirth in rugby and simply wants to stay fit and get a run of games under his belt.

“It may look like that from the outside,” he said, “for me, it just feels like it's a steady path but yeah, I mean, I just enjoy rugby, I just want to play rugby and I feel like it's a great place to come and play and try and win some things.

“I think in my positions, you have the luxury of being able to keep it simple. I sort of focus on carry, tackle, clean: that's my main game and just try to do all three of those well and let the rest take care of itself.”

Donnell admits he is also prepared to fulfil any role required for Ulster.

“I've played everywhere really: played five minutes at 12 I think at one stage in the Premiership, so yeah, I'm happy to play anywhere,: he said.

"I'm just going to play the same way no matter where you put me, so I'm happy enough if it gets me on the field.

“Sometimes the number really does not matter, and you almost do it just based on whether you're in the line-out jumping or whether you're not, and then the number becomes irrelevant.” Donnell explained the obstacles he’s came up against in the last few seasons and why he signed for Ulster.

“Well, I was Irish qualified through my dad – he's from Belfast – so that always opens up a few more avenues for you,” Donnell said.

“Then Ulster spoke to me. I was always very excited by their project, especially once Richie [Murphy] came in; the way they were playing rugby, it's fun, you know, it's attractive to watch, it makes you want to be a part of it, and yeah, when I was offered the chance to come here, I jumped at it.

“Calf [injury], I just had a nightmare with that basically trying to get back from it, I did it twice.

“It was great to get back out there and just not have to think about calves anymore.”

On being left looking for a new team after the club went into administration, Donnell added: “London Irish it was a nightmare really, we thought we'd be at London Irish until the very last second.

"It was after, post the end of the season as well, so all of their clubs had already done their squads, so there's suddenly 40, 50 players trying to get a job and having to spread between clubs that don't have any money available. It was a tough time but I think finally I've landed on my feet.

“I had a whole year at Gloucester, but I sort of chose to end it early to play a bit more at Cardiff.

“It started really well… you get into a groove that you play for ages. I was thinking you sort of start to feel indestructible, ‘nothing can happen to me’ and then got the elbow [injuy] and then there was sort of things around that that led to the calf, and then it was on and off, on and off... but I do feel it's really behind me now so it's okay.”