Trimble: Gatland factor irrelevant

THE great ‘O’Sullivan v Gatland’ debate may be set to dominate coverage of Ireland’s clash with Wales in the coming days but even a subplot as juicy as that will have no relevance come 1.15pm on Saturday.

Andrew Trimble is one of an ever-increasing number of men to have joined the international set-up since the Kiwi’s surprise departure as Ireland coach so he was well qualified to play down the relevance of the Gatland factor.

“I would say the whole thing about the coaches is more of a media thing,” said the Ulster centre/wing at the team’s Killiney hotel yesterday. “It’s not something that’s going to affect us. We’re not going to be thinking, ‘I really have to make this tackle because Warren Gatland is their coach’. That certainly is not the case.”