Andrew Trimble targeting perfect finish to season that started with heart-break

The winger is hoping Ulster's late gallop will get them over the Guinness PRO12 finish line ahead of the pack.

In years to come, people will glance at Ireland's 2015 World Cup squad and wonder where Andrew Trimble was. We asked it back in August 2015, when Joe Schmidt broke the bad news, and we're still asking it now. One of Ireland's best wingers - 2014 Players' and Writers' Player of the Year - was fit but not fit enough for Joe Schmidt. Five days after Ireland got eliminated from the World Cup, Trimble scored his first try of the season in his fourth game. https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/650092677611024384 Speaking with Trimble at the IRUPA awards, this week, we found him in reflective mood and targeting a perfect finish to a season that started with heart-break. He told us:

"I didn't quite get fit enough for the World Cup. It was very disappointing but the feeling of that, paired with the injury, made it so special to be involved in the Six Nations this year. Still being in with a chance to finish the season with silverware gives that added excitement."

Trimble jokes that he enjoyed this season - middling as it has been for Ulster and Ireland - more than he did 2014/15, when he spent most of his time recovering from a troublesome foot injury. He has 16 appearances with his province this season but has only featured twice since the Six Nations. Fortunately, both of those games brought wins over interprovincial rivals. Throw in a caning of Zebre and Ulster are right in the hunt for a first trophy in 10 years.

"We've made it that way ourselves by not performing earlier in the season. We have to produce another big performance at the weekend to get into any sort of play-off. You want to play in the big games and this one is essentially a knock-out for us. We're looking forward to it. "There is a bit of pressure to that but we've had that for the last few weeks. The is a lot going on with the connotations of what might happen. From our point of view, we needed to beat Connacht, Zebre with a bonus point and Leinster. They are not three easy results to come by. "We should character and stood up to that pressure. Hopefully that can continue but we know the standard of performance needs to mount to match the pressure. We've got the appetite for it, we've got the character, and we should be able to performer on that bigger stage."

If Ulster are to claim their first league piece of silverware since the 2005/06 Celtic League, they will need Trimble on top form. "I'm ready," he says with a smile before walking off to rejoin his peers.