When it was revealed halfway via the final marketing campaign that Jared Payne can be leaving Ulster come season’s finish for a job with French giants Clermont, most understood the motivation.
Having been within the system for almost all of his profession as a participant earlier than turning into a coach, the transfer to the Prime 14 represented an opportunity to expertise a unique rugby tradition, to broaden his teaching horizons and to glean new methods of working.
In that regard, there's a sense that Jonny Bell’s appointment as his successor has the texture of one thing coming full circle past the European Cup winner’s prior two-decade-long affiliation along with his native province.
When the previous Irish centre left Ravenhill for Gloucester in 2015, his reasoning then was simply as Payne’s is now and he returns feeling he discovered a lot on his travels.
“After I left right here, I left to develop as a coach and as an individual,” mentioned the person who adopted Gloucester with stints at Glasgow and most not too long ago Worcester. “My mindset was that regardless of the way it goes for me throughout the water, I'm going to be a greater coach and a greater individual for it.
“Now, I had a couple of nice years at Gloucester. Was it difficult? Extremely so. I used to be working with totally different teams of gamers, coaches and I needed to change and adapt to them. You discover out loads about your self within the good and the unhealthy occasions.
“It makes you come again and extra skilled. If the experiences are good or unhealthy, it steels you. However I'm glad to return again and lend my experiences to this group of gamers to assist in any manner I can.
“I went away to get expertise of a unique League, expertise totally different coaches and gamers and see issues accomplished in a different way and taking myself out of my consolation zone. I had been with Ulster as a participant and a coach at that stage for 22 years — a very long time.
“Some folks can keep in a single place for a really very long time and that's good, it’s nice. I’m not saying for one minute that it doesn’t need to be the case.
“However for me, I needed to take myself out of my consolation zone. I labored with Laurie Fisher, Johann Ackermann, Steve Diamond, totally different coaches and a few high quality gamers.
“Some have been sensible and a few have been troublesome to work with. All of it provides expertise.”
For Bell, although, the ‘residence’ teaching field at Ravenhill will at all times be appropriately named.
“It felt nice,” he mentioned of his first recreation again on the ticket because the northern province opened the marketing campaign with a 36-10 victory over Connacht final weekend.
“My mum sadly handed away in 2017 and he or she had an ideal seat up within the Household Stand and he or she was an avid Ulster supporter.
“After I was at Gloucester, she would have known as me and instructed me all about Ulster, how they have been doing and giving off to me about how Gloucester had accomplished on the weekend.
“In order that was pretty, having that reminiscence of my mum.
“Coming again right here makes you recognize the good place it's, how passionate the followers listed here are and the services are second to none.
“It felt actually nice and to prime it off with an ideal win in opposition to an ideal aspect.”
The early returns for Bell have been good, with Ulster conceding simply 10 factors and Connacht’s sole attempt coming with a breakaway late on when the hosts already had the sport within the bag.
It will likely be totally different personnel in opposition to Scarlets on the weekend with senior Irish internationals again however the nine-strong Rising Eire contingent absent.
As he seems to be to place his personal stamp on what was already a robust defensive output, Bell has preached evolution over revolution.
“Defence, basically, shouldn’t be a posh factor,” he mentioned. “You've got a system in place they usually have to purchase into that and it's important to give them motivation. I feel what Ulster had right here with Jared was superb so a variety of the ideas Jared had in place are much like mine.
“What I'm making an attempt to do is make us higher. How will we get that additional 10 per cent?
“The place will we give ourselves extra of an edge, in order that we get extra alternatives offensively?
“Can we get the ball again somewhat faster, can we transition so we get it to Rob Baloucoune, Jacob Stockdale and Michael Lowry?
“It’s evolving what's already an excellent machine in lots of respects.
“Coaches, they don’t work in silos, they work collectively. The sport is so inter-dependent. It’s not simply, ‘You might be coping with assault’ and ‘You might be coping with defence’. Sure, you lean on these areas of the sport, however we discuss and we share concepts and attempt to get the sport to be as joined up as we are able to.
“Defence doesn’t work except we now have a really joined-up system with the assault. And likewise we don’t need to be placing the assault below stress so it's working collectively to get the perfect mix for the group.”