In-form Trimble keen to come full circle

LESS than a year ago, Andrew Trimble was facing into the unknown; he could be forgiven for thinking his future in international rugby was in serious jeopardy after 25 Irish caps and eight tries.

The Ballymena and Ulster wing was plagued by ongoing knee and increasingly annoying groin injuries that took a toll on form and opportunity. He was, in his own mind at least, the forgotten man of Irish rugby as his former colleagues under Declan Kidney rewrote the history books to win the Grand Slam.

But if Trimble is still coming to terms with the disappointment of losing out on the biggest achievement in Irish rugby for 61 years, it doesn’t show. These days he is all smiles, stemming from the combination of physical recovery, a cameo 10-minute appearance against Fiji in the autumn international series and, based on top form for Ulster, inclusion in the current Irish squad for the 2010 RBS Six Nations.