RUGBY: JOHNNY WATTERSONtalks to the Ulster wing who is delighted to be back in the team to face England at the Aviva
IN SUMMITS like these you sense Declan Kidney is decidedly uncomfortable. As the questions arrive the talk delicately falls around Luke Fitzgerald losing his place as much as Andrew Trimble edging in. For every winner there is a loser. Kidney, you feel, lives a little of the agony when a player like Fitzgerald is crushed.
“If Luke has made any mistake he’s been trying too hard, overstretching, his timing is just off,” says Kidney. “Andrew has been knocking at the door for a while.”
There was agreement as much by silence as words that Fitzgerald’s weighty ability has been fitful and stuttering, its expression limited against Scotland and that Trimble deserves a shot on the wing. But so too did people leave the team hotel believing Fitzgerald may have lost more this week than Trimble has gained. Still, in this type of theatre a ruthless attitude prevails.
“Personally, the chances in an international jersey are few and far between. This is an opportunity. I want to take,” says Trimble, sharp and hungry after his own spell in the wilderness.
With Keith Earls being asked to vacate the wing for Trimble and remodel his game for fullback, Kidney sees no drama. That’s his style. And in Trimble he sees a strong player in form in training and for Ulster, a player who is in little doubt about the threats from the England flanks.
“(Mark) Cueto and (Chris) Ashton are both playing outstanding rugby and (Ben) Foden,” he says. “The back three is going very well for them. That’s why it’s a big challenge. That’s why I’m really up for it, really excited.”
Trimble last started for Ireland on the left wing in the autumn against Argentina. Three and a half months on, the door swings ajar. He’s knows the value of yesterday’s call-up and that the casting out of Fitzgerald is part of a process that has also wounded him before.
“After this weekend if it doesn’t go my way then it is my fault,” he says, challenging the dimensions of his own greedy streak. “I’ve had the opportunity and I’m not going to be crying to anybody. I just want to take this chance.”
It has been an anxious wait. Trimble had been tipping over nicely for Ulster in the New Year but a hand injury in the Heineken Cup against Aironi prior to the start of the championship sidelined him for a few weeks. He missed being part of Kidney’s choice against Italy. That bad timing pushed him even further away from the top table as Kidney assembled from what he had.
“My form this season has been good. . . I was playing well through January and then frustratingly for me, I got a hand injury and that was me out of the loop,” he says. “By the time I got back in it (the team) sort of settled a bit and there were guys playing good rugby, keeping their spot. That’s fair enough. There’s a lot of competition.
“It is difficult to stay in there if you miss an opportunity like that or you are unlucky. Then you miss out. Guys come in and take that spot and more often than not they’ll hold on to it, so it was frustrating for me. Every week I was just hoping I’d get involved. There have been a few disappointments along the way.”
Just one chance before the championship closes. But if Trimble leaves with a good performance, he goes back to Belfast for the rest of the season with a green shirt in his possession. England and their all -conquering hopes make the challenge particularly sweet.
“It’s a big deal for us to play England, regardless of whether they are going for a Grand Slam or not,” says Trimble. “Every year we want to beat England. Everybody wants to beat England. . . . . They are a quality outfit. Because they are such a good side, because they are a challenge, we want to bring them over to the Aviva and beat them.
“They’re in a position to win a Grand Slam but we’re going in wanting to beat them from our own perspective. We’re in the Aviva Stadium. We’re in a home game and we want to win it.”
