Interview: Andrew Trimble, Ulster wing

THE DECLAN Kidney Show cranked up a notch in Limerick last week. It was only a matter of timing before he started with his "Beware The Danger" routine, a performance he's been delivering, in one form or another, for nigh on a decade now and one that has at its heart a message of vigilance over complacency.

Kidney is masterful at getting rugby players into the proper frame of mind, at reminding them of the challenge ahead and what it would mean were they to meet it.

"I'm more nervous than I was this time last year," said the Ireland coach. "Because experience has shown me that we're now the bull's-eye. We're now more analysed. The task is more than twice as great as it was before. So you can look upon that negatively or say that every win we have will be twice the win it was last year."

The coach knows better than anybody that Ireland had good fortune on their side last season. There were pivotal moments during their Grand Slam where luck went their way and those breaks continued to fall in their favour in the autumn. History will record Ireland's draw with the Wallabies as a study in spirit and never-say-die grit after they'd fallen well behind on the scoreboard. Time has already forgotten the fact that at the critical scrum that provided the opportunity for the equalising try for Brian O'Driscoll there was a bit of Irish gamesmanship that was not picked up on by the officials; namely, John Hayes dropping the scrum.

Ireland have been thrilling and ruthless and defiant this past year. But they've also been lucky. Nobody would deny that.

Kidney is blessed on so many fronts, really. Luke Fitzgerald, the Leinster and Lions wing, is injured but look what the coach has to pick from when considering who is going to play on Tommy Bowe's opposite wing. He's got Keith Earls, who's been superb for Munster. He's got Shane Horgan, whose career has taken another upsurge at Leinster. And then, of course, he has Andrew Trimble, the flying machine from the north.

Take a look at Trimble's try last weekend where he darted through the cover and scorched the grass under his feet for 70 metres against Bath in the Heineken Cup and ponder this: this fella has played one match for Ireland in nearly two years – as a substitute against Fiji.

Trimble, Earls or Horgan? It's about as tricky to decipher Kidney's thinking on this issue as it on the Ronan O'Gara versus Jonathan Sexton debate at fly-half. "It's a nervous time for me," says Trimble. "The squad will be named on Tuesday and I'll be pretty anxious. All I'll say is that I'm delighted with the way I've been playing. I had a great pre-season and I've got a bit of speed and power and I feel a lot more athletic than I did this time last year and I'm really pleased about it. I'm so much happier playing the way I am. I tell you, there's nothing worse than playing for Ulster and knowing in your heart of hearts that you were better two or three years ago. That's the way I felt last season, but it's different now. This is the best I've played."

Trimble was once the bright young thing of the Ireland side, before Rob Kearney emerged, before Jamie Heaslip and Stephen Ferris appeared, before Earls was even a flicker in Kidney's eye. He's only 25 now, but he'd played 24 times for his country by the time he was 23 years old. He had power and pace and finishing ability. He also had versatility. Left wing or right. Inside centre or out. He could do a job.

He scored tries against the All Blacks in the Waikato Stadium in Hamilton, against the French at the Stade de France and against the Springboks at Lansdowne Road. And everybody loved him. He was a good lad, a Christian who liked nothing better than speaking about his devotion to the Lord. He was one of the boys in the dressing room, but away from it he had another calling.

"The excitement I get from talking about Christ is far, far greater than the buzz I get out of rugby," he once told a congregation in Belfast. His team-mates would slag him about it, but he was well able for the gentle ribbings.

He seemed, at times, immovable in the Ireland team. Then came the emergence of a new wave of youngsters (Kearney, Earls, Bowe) and the dogged form of an old stager (Horgan) and on top of that, some injuries, and before he knew it, two years had passed and he hadn't worn the green. And then the Grand Slam happened.

"Yeah, that was very hard for me," he says. "Not much fun, to be honest. I felt like I never really had a chance of getting selected last season because I just wasn't playing well enough. I was never really that disappointed when Declan picked the team because I never expected to be involved. It's been two years since I've been anywhere near playing well enough.

"And I've noticed a difference in the vibe between then and now. We're approaching the Six Nations as one of the favourites, way more so than last year or the year before and that's something traditionally we haven't coped that well with, but it's something we're starting to handle better now.

"After the Grand Slam we backed it up with a good performance in the autumn. There's definitely something extra that wasn't there in the past, which is important, because we're going to have to go above and beyond what we produced last year in terms of performance. Last year was great and it was a big turning point for Irish rugby but we want to push things a little bit more because all the others are going to push it."

Trimble doesn't need any prompting about Euan Murray's decision to rest on the opening Sunday of the championship because of his Christian beliefs. Rugby players not being the most charitable of souls, it seems that Trimble has come in for stick on the back of Murray's decision. "I have massive, massive respect for Euan. The boys were winding me up the other day about it, though. They were saying that he was proper Christian and that I must have some sort of supermarket-type religion that allows me to play on Sundays. It was all good craic.

"I feel I can best honour God by playing on Sundays. That's just the way I am. Euan feels he can best honour God by not playing. It's whatever is right to you. Scotland will really miss him, I think. I'm sure there's a lot of pressure on him to play so it must have been very difficult for him. I'm sure it was a tough decision. If he feels that's the one God wants him to make then I'm sure God will look after him. He'll bless him."

Of course, Trimble has a Scot – Simon Danielli – with him at Ulster. Danzer, as he calls his fellow wing, has hit form of late and Trimble tips him for something special in the Six Nations. "You put Danzer in space and he'll score. He's a very dangerous player. He's very confident on the ball and is always looking to beat people. I'll be keeping an eye on how he's doing, but I reckon this could be a big championship for him."

All Trimble wants is a chance to remind Ireland what he's got, those special gifts we saw against Bath last week.

"Somebody is going to be devastated when the team is announced on Tuesday," he says. "Shaggy (Horgan] is playing really well with Leinster and Earlsy is flying with Munster. I suppose it's nice to have the strength in depth, but we're all desperate to play. It's a great time, but I'll be a lot happier if my name is read out on Tuesday. I really want to get back on that scene as fast as I can."