He then moved, along with other new arrival Peter Browne, to London Welsh last season, before signing for Ulster.
"It's great to have arrived at Ulster," says Rowley. "The boys have given me a good welcome, I knew Ruaidhri Murphy a bit before so he has shown me the ropes and given me a tour of Belfast. I have been here for two weeks now so I am getting used to things and I am feeling settled in.
"The city is great, Ruaidhri has got me on to 5A coffee shop down by Stranmillis and Kaffe-o on the Ormeau Road. I have had a walk around a few of the parks which are nice. I have a little dog, a French bulldog/border terrier he's a weird looking little thing but he is certainly enjoying the local parks. I have made a trip out to Helens Bay which was really nice and the dog loved there too!
"The stadium itself is unbelievable, I came over the Easter weekend and had a look around but the pictures you see definitely don't do it justice until you actually see it, it is an amazing set up. The facilities were certainly a driver which made me want to come here, but also the fact that so many talented international players are here and the club has big aspirations - that is what I wanted."
Last week saw the beginning of pre-season training and he has no doubt it is going to be tough:
"Pre-season has just started so my focus for the next while will be a lot of speed work and building my fitness in preparation for game time. It's not actually a long time, four or five weeks until the season starts, which is shorter than previous pre-seasons I've had. I am sure it's going to be tough, but I'm prepared for that.
"There is a lot of competition in the side but that means you can only get better. It is going to take a huge amount of effort to get game time, I am fully aware of that. All I can do is try my best, give it all I've got and see what happens."
Having had a disappointing season with London Welsh, Rowley is looking to turn his fortunes around with a successful campaign at Ulster:
"It is the same for both Pete (Browne) and myself, it gives us more motivation, coming off a season like that, it is one to forget for a lot of reasons but at the end of the day, we won't let that happen again. It gives us extra motivation to work harder and amend what happened to us last season in terms of our personal reputation."
It is early days but he already has clear ambitions for the season:
"I want to get on the pitch as much as I can. I am older now, more mature and my role within the squad has changed from previous years. I have a bit of experience under my belt now so I will try to bring something different to the team. If the kit sale queue is anything to go by, I can't wait to see the supporters on match nights!"
He then moved, along with other new arrival Peter Browne, to London Welsh last season, before signing for Ulster.
"It's great to have arrived at Ulster," says Rowley. "The boys have given me a good welcome, I knew Ruaidhri Murphy a bit before so he has shown me the ropes and given me a tour of Belfast. I have been here for two weeks now so I am getting used to things and I am feeling settled in.
"The city is great, Ruaidhri has got me on to 5A coffee shop down by Stranmillis and Kaffe-o on the Ormeau Road. I have had a walk around a few of the parks which are nice. I have a little dog, a French bulldog/border terrier he's a weird looking little thing but he is certainly enjoying the local parks. I have made a trip out to Helens Bay which was really nice and the dog loved there too!
"The stadium itself is unbelievable, I came over the Easter weekend and had a look around but the pictures you see definitely don't do it justice until you actually see it, it is an amazing set up. The facilities were certainly a driver which made me want to come here, but also the fact that so many talented international players are here and the club has big aspirations - that is what I wanted."
Last week saw the beginning of pre-season training and he has no doubt it is going to be tough:
"Pre-season has just started so my focus for the next while will be a lot of speed work and building my fitness in preparation for game time. It's not actually a long time, four or five weeks until the season starts, which is shorter than previous pre-seasons I've had. I am sure it's going to be tough, but I'm prepared for that.
"There is a lot of competition in the side but that means you can only get better. It is going to take a huge amount of effort to get game time, I am fully aware of that. All I can do is try my best, give it all I've got and see what happens."
Having had a disappointing season with London Welsh, Rowley is looking to turn his fortunes around with a successful campaign at Ulster:
"It is the same for both Pete (Browne) and myself, it gives us more motivation, coming off a season like that, it is one to forget for a lot of reasons but at the end of the day, we won't let that happen again. It gives us extra motivation to work harder and amend what happened to us last season in terms of our personal reputation."
It is early days but he already has clear ambitions for the season:
"I want to get on the pitch as much as I can. I am older now, more mature and my role within the squad has changed from previous years. I have a bit of experience under my belt now so I will try to bring something different to the team. If the kit sale queue is anything to go by, I can't wait to see the supporters on match nights!"