Rise of Trimble brightens autumn gloom

IN a year when one Trimble disappeared from the political landscape, another emerged on the sports landscape as a likely long-term Irish midfield prospect.

Don’t read into a couple of tries against a side of Romania’s shortcomings, but Andrew Trimble has demonstrated through a glittering schools and U-21 career, and now at Heineken Cup and international level, that he has the potential to be spoken of in the same breath as some of the outstanding Ulster three-quarters of the past.

It is obviously premature to put him in the category of David Hewitt or Mike Gibson but his strong running and ability to spot a gap has helped him pick up three Celtic League tries followed by his brace against the Romanians. And he also looked the part in demanding Heineken Cup matches against Treviso and Biarritz.

He has provided Eddie O’Sullivan with options in an area where cover for Gordon D’Arcy and Brian O’Driscoll is short on quality.

Trimble isn’t getting carried away, preferring instead to look at the autumn internationals as a package: “All in all, it’s been a disappointing series although we’ve got to take a lot of positives out of it as well. We’ve got to work on those and work even more on the stuff we didn’t do quite as well on and work towards the Six Nations. The Romanians were a very physical side. I took a couple of knocks, a few hand offs in the face and that kind of thing.”