Andrew Trimble played one Test in 2013 and rebounded with a Six Nations win and a Player of the Year award. In 2015, injury and time cost him a World Cup spot. Again, he bounced back with 11 Test appearances in 2016 and rousing performances in wins over South Africa and New Zealand.
In 2017, Trimble featured once again for Ireland. If anyone is capable of making another miraculous comeback, it’s the Ulster winger.
The 33-year-old joined The Hard Yards to talk about Ulster’s upcoming Champions Cup games, being the other ‘other man’ along with Tommy Bowe and the sound advice he received from Ireland coach Joe Schmidt [from 41:00 below].
Trimble has played eight times for Ulster this season [six starts] and has scored five tries. He had a brief injury set-back in October though and that, along with the form of Jacob Stockdale and Schmidt using the November internationals to blood new backline talent saw him miss out on Ireland duty.
On media duty at the Aviva Stadium for the Fiji and Argentina games, Trimble was delighted to see Rob Herring get his first start, Kieran Treadwell making an appearance off the bench and the likes of Stockdale, Rory Best and Iain Henderson doing so well.
As for his own Ireland hopes in 2018, Trimble recalls a conversation he had with Joe Schmidt ahead of the Guinness Series.
“I hadn’t had enough game time in the lead-up to November. There’s a lot of competition [at Ulster] and it’s hard enough to get out on the pitch and in the mix. I suffered from that and I dropped down the pecking order from that.
“Because of that, I didn’t get in the mix for Ireland. Joe said that – this isn’t necessarily a sign of where things are going in the future, but this is where we are now and you’re not quite there now.
“I couldn’t disagree with a word he said. I wasn’t quite playing the sort of rugby I would like to see myself play. I wasn’t quite as abrasive as I’d like to be. But Joe said, you get yourself back in the mix [for Ulster] and you could be back in the mix for the Six Nations. I’m holding onto that.”
“I feel like I’ve still got a lot to give,” Trimble added, “and I’m still very hungry for it, and looking forward to getting a chance again soon and kicking on.”
Back in 2012/13, when Trimble was struggling to impress himself upon then Ireland coach Declan Kidney, he vowed to focus on doing his damnedest for Ulster Rugby and seeing where that took him. That decision saw him get straight back to his best and he starred for Ireland on his return to the Test fold.
Four years on, he could do with a repeat dose.
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