AS HE NEARS his double century of caps for Ulster, there are plenty of things that have changed at Kingspan Stadium in Craig Gilroy’s time.

Since he burst onto the scene with two tries on his debut against Cardiff Blues almost 11 years ago, the winger has been part of teams both chasing trophies and struggling to mid-table finishes. He’s seen team-mates come and go, and several coaches too. Even the stadium has changed.

But Gilroy still stands, the longest-serving member of the current squad edging towards joining an exclusive club of players to wear the white jersey 200 times, joining the likes of Rory Best, Darren Cave, Robbie Diack, Paul Marshall, Andrew Trimble and Roger Wilson.

It would be no less than the former Ireland international deserves, too. From his remarkable solo try in the Heineken Cup quarter-final against Munster to his charitable work off the pitch, he has been one of the faces of the province and one of the best-loved players by fans and peers alike.

“That would be nice, those milestones are always nice and a wee bit of recognition,” admits the 31-year-old.

“I just want to get into the team and start, I have had a really good pre-season and I want to show that on the pitch and get the ball in my hands. If I get to the 200 that would be great.”

But while Gilroy is the constant in the Ulster squad, the changes that have occurred around him have been plentiful. For instance, all six of the current double centurions have retired in his time and he has gone through five head coaches.

Even the facilities in Belfast have changed dramatically since he first togged out at what was then Ravenhill. Now it is Kingspan Stadium, a shiny 18,000-capacity ultra-modern stadium housing an all-purpose gym and meeting facilities that is one of the leading venues of its kind.

Despite all the changes around him, however, Gilroy insists his own approach has never changed since he was that fresh-faced 20-year-old at the Cardiff City Stadium, both in how he approaches the season and how he goes into games.

“I think it is all similar stuff, apart from your first pre-season which hits you like a ton of bricks,” he laughs.

“It is really hard to prepare for that and you just have to get through it even when your body is on the brink you just have to keep going.

“Your first one, once that is out of the way I would approach it the same, recovery is a massive part of pre-season, you need to recover whether that is a massage or an ice bath, getting enough sleep or nutrition recovery is half the battle and as you get older that gets even more important.

“Pre-season is a really good time to push yourself and not have to worry about games at the weekend.”

But while he tries to keep things as similar to 11 years ago, inevitably things do change as time goes on, and over the years Gilroy has found that he’s taken on more of a mentorship role for the younger players coming through.

Indeed, he found himself sharing a wing with Ben Moxham in last week’s friendly with Saracens – whom Ulster face in another pre-season match-up on Thursday in London – with Aaron Sexton at full-back, both of whom are younger than he was when he made his debut.

That doesn’t mean Gilroy is willing to cede his jersey any time soon – he still has six caps to go before magic number 200, after all – but he’s excited to play his part in mentoring the next generation in Belfast.

“For me I still want to go charging into things, I still want to play a fast pace, I want to play fast expansive rugby and I think I can still do that,” he adds.

“I suppose as you get older you gain a bit more experience where you might have done something when you were younger that you won’t do now, and I think that helps a lot when you have sort of been through it.

“There are a lot of guys coming through in that back three position, Ben Moxham, Aaron Sexton guys like that, and Ethan (McIlroy) as well, we’d all chat a lot and you see parts of yourself when you were coming through as a youngster in them.

“I think we have a sort of good mini unit there that talks through things and helps each other out.”

Craig Gilroy spoke to The42 as part of Ulster Rugby announcing they have renewed their charity partnership with Extern, who support around 17,000 people across the province every year through dozens of projects in the areas of mental health, homelessness, problem drug and alcohol usage, Traveller health, family support and youth services, among others.