Trimble eager to make most of time on Ireland’s centre stage

DESPITE winning 21 caps, Andrew Trimble has spent a significant portion of his international career hugging the shadows of this Irish panel but is determined to make the most of his more central role in this Six Nations.

First choice at outside centre for Ulster, the presence of Brian O’Driscoll on the Irish side had seen Trimble deposited to the wings prior to the game against Italy.

When Gordon D’Arcy broke his arm that day, it was Trimble whom Eddie O’Sullivan called on to fill the hole and he has made the most of the switch.

“I felt like I never stopped working the whole game,” said Trimble of Paris yesterday. “It’s the hardest I’ve worked in a long time, just because there was so much to do.

“The French play with so much width and so much intensity. They get guys coming onto the ball and there are an awful lot of tackles to be made and, probably in the 12 channel, there are a lot more responsibilities when you get the ball.”

It isn’t the first time Trimble has been used as emergency cover at centre. His big break arrived in the autumn of 2005 when Paul Steinmetz broke a jaw in Ulster and Trimble did so well that his international bow was over within weeks.

He learnt a lot about the vagaries of playing at centre from the South African, as well as former Irish international Johnny Bell, but he concedes that he is by no means the finished article in the number 12 jersey.

“Sometimes it’s difficult, you’ve got to learn new stuff. The last few years I’ve felt I’ve been chopping and changing positions, left and right wing and both centres, but it’s something I’m getting used to now.

“It’s really only first phase and defensive purposes, because whenever you get into phase play, everybody ends up all over the place anyway. There are wings popping up at first receiver. It’s not a daunting task.”

The way Ireland played defensively in Paris, Trimble found himself defending as a number 13 anyway and his bedding-in at his new digs was made even easier by the presence of the Irish skipper on his shoulder.

“He’s an absolute leader,” says Trimble. “He takes over whenever we’ve got the ball. He calls the shots and you just follow him. He’s comfortable enough to say ‘give me the ball and follow me’.

“That’s great, it takes a lot of pressure off and, with Ronan (O’Gara) on the other side, I wouldn’t say it was an armchair ride, but those guys make life a lot easier.”

Trimble’s performance was just one of a number of positives Eddie O’Sullivan was took from the Paris defeat but the Ulsterman waves away talk of favouritism against the Scots.

“We would have always been very confident, over the last six months especially, that we can produce performances like against England and Italy last year.

“Really big performances. It’s really great to be part of a side that’s starting to fulfil the challenges we set for ourselves. It’s something we’ve highlighted as well. We don’t want to talk about how good we are, we want to produce performances to show how good we are.”