Trimble's honesty is rewarded

Interview Andrew Trimble: Johnny Watterson talks to a young man who could be on the threshold of a great Irish career

The conversion of Andrew Trimble's ambition to reality has taken an ironic twist for the young Ulster player. Eddie O'Sullivan, in his unfamiliar role as the Fairy Godfather, has waved his pen and turned the scramble for one side of the Irish flank into something of an epic contest. The twist in the narrative this time is that as one lone Ulster player steps in, another, Tommy Bowe, steps out.

It is not long ago that Denis Hickie was as familiar a part of the Irish scenery as Brian O'Driscoll, Gordon D'Arcy and Shane Horgan. When Bowe came in bursting with raw energy and hopes, Hickie, not unhindered by serious injury, watched as his name fell further down the page.

After Bowe's indifferent performance against France, he too slips from the starting team and even off the squad of 22. These are treacherous times for wingers.

In one sense this is O'Sullivan's ideal scenario, and once again he has ferocious internal competition for one place, something the second row knows all about. Converted from the Ulster centre, the 21-year-old Trimble understands the nature of fast-tracking and its pitfalls.

Hickie. Bowe. Trimble. For all that acceptance of deselection is part of being a professional player, there must be a lot of conflicting signals running through Irish wingers' heads these days. But the gentle demeanour of the player stepping in is disarming.

Trimble says things like, "You get a lot of glory from a lot of other boys' hard work. Playing with Ireland you're playing with the best players in the world. It's an honour even to be a replacement for these guys."

Along with the choirboy looks and the deep-seated and openly embraced Christianity, there is also a faultless honesty about him. He walks into the Killiney Hotel mildly overwhelmed but unwaveringly pragmatic and is asked immediately if he has spoken to Bowe, his friend and Ulster team-mate.

"I have, yeah. I'm very disappointed for Tommy (Bowe). It's a shame the way it works out, just one of us. That's unfortunate for Tommy but that's the way it is," he says.

"All I can do is go out and play whatever position I'm picked to play in. I think I'd rather play in the centre. I've a bit more experience there and I feel a bit more comfortable there. But if you've got 13 or 11 on your back it doesn't really matter.

"The way I see it, the more opportunities you get to play for Ireland the more you want to do it again and again. Every match you grow in confidence and you grow in experience. I'd like to think I improve as a player every game. I want to keep doing that. I want to keep learning from the players around me. I wouldn't have anticipated having three caps at the beginning of the year. That's the way it is and now the goalposts move and I want to achieve more and more."

From O'Sullivan's point of view, Trimble has shown a hard honesty in the way he goes about the pitch. Unafraid of the tough end of the game and frequently seeking it out, he can also break gain lines and - as he showed in Paris two weeks age - position himself and finish.

Given Ireland have shown, even to the point of recklessness, a desire to throw the ball around, Trimble, arguably more elusive in possession than Bowe, is the right face for the Welsh campaign.

"I thought Andrew came off the bench and did very well in Paris," said O'Sullivan yesterday. "This is just a selection issue, one of the things that happens in a tournament like this. I think Tommy is a bit disappointed with his game at the moment. It's a difficult decision but the right one in terms of getting the best 15 players on the pitch."

Brian O'Driscoll, forever the man with the measured phrase and the deft touch around a microphone, was more effusive about the player who, were he not so in awe of his captain, would gladly have his shirt.

"He's looked very sharp in training," said O'Driscoll after yesterday's selection. "He's an exciting talent and he's a guy for the future. He's equally adaptable in the centre or the wing and he's exciting to play with."

Two seasons with Ulster, four months with the Ireland squad and four caps - Trimble has defied common wisdom that had Bowe and Jamie Heaslip as the next big things. As he has said himself, without even a hint of saccharine banality, "It's a dream come true."