Andrew Trimble has been honoured as the 2014 Player of the Year at the 28th Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland Awards in the Guinness Storehouse, thereby completing a decorated year for the 30-year-old following on from his IRUPA Players Player of the Year award and Ireland's Six Nations title success.
Ironically, the Ulster winger was on the outside looking in when Ireland were playing the comparative Guinness Series a year ago before availing of injuries to others to grasp his opportunity in the Six Nations. He scored tries in the wins over Scotland, Italy and France, as well as the first test in Argentina, only to now find himself sidelined with a toe ligament injury.
“I have absolutely no case to complain. Around January/February last year a couple of guys got knocks and I got an opportunity that I maybe wouldn’t have got in the past, and I felt that I took it. In the same way there’s one or two injuries now. That’s the problem. Every guy is probably saying the same about their position but on the wings there’s so much talent, and that’s a good thing. Competition for places is high and if you’re going to get the opportunity in a green jersey you need to be playing out of your skin, and that’s exactly the way it should be.”
Trimble underwent an operation last Thursday, and will be on crutches for another week before he can remove his cast, after which his surgeon will have a clearer idea as to the winger’s projected recovery timescale.
“To be honest it’s unbelievable frustrating hobbling around and being late for things, but I’ve been lucky for a long time with injuries and it’s just an opportunity for me to step back and build up that hunger for whenever I do get back on the pitch and hopefully make that count.”
Trimble did not have any complaints at missing out on last year's November series given his own sluggish start to the season, but even then saw the start of the Joe Schmidt era as a new dawn, and that when opportunity knocked he had nothing to lose.
“Then Joe (Schmidt) came in and obviously all the Leinster boys loved him and rightly so. The reputation he had with them was re-enforced with the rest of us and I just thought, ‘who knows what he’s going to be like?’ but at least it’s something new and things could only get better for me because I wasn’t really in the picture at that stage.”
“Then whenever Six Nations came around I managed to get involved and get a bit of form so it’s completely consistent and that makes me think that I’m not overanalysing things or mis-interpreting my form. What I think is generally what Joe thinks, so if I’m happy about where I am then he’s going to be happy as well; although Joe being happy probably doesn’t happy that much in that he’s always looking for you to improve your performances and that’s something I’ve taken a lot from as well.”
For this reason, and the attention to small details, Trimble feels like he thrives in the environment created by Schmidt. “To be honest, what Joe has done has really, really changed Irish rugby. There was another example of it on Saturday. It’s not rocket science. He’s just very consistent with what he does. We know exactly what we’re doing at any given moment on the pitch. We’re clear with the gameplan, we’re clear with our role, this is something that makes you think: ‘Why have we not done this in the past?’ I’ve managed to buy into it, work on a few things which are game specific to me and you’d be amazed when you look after those small details how big a difference it can make.”
Former Ireland coach Philip Doyle and captain Fiona Coghlan won the Tom Rooney award for services to rugby, and reflecting on her career as Irish captain and a glorious calendar year which saw them crowned Six Nations champions and reach a first World Cup semi-final, Coghlan said: "At the start it was a bit of a slow burner and it took a few years to get ourselves on a consistent international footing and go from getting beaten and finishing bottom of the Six Nations to making progression."
“To see it develop to the point where we won the Grand Slam and finishing fourth in the World Cup was huge. It was disappointing at the time to lose the final two games at the World Cup but it’s a realistic reflection of where women’s rugby is at in terms of playing numbers and resources so it’s in a really positive place compared to where it started from and that’s brilliant.”
Guinness Rugby Writers Of Ireland Awards 2014
Player of the Year - Andrew Trimble
Dave Guiney Award (Team of the Year) - Ireland.
Tom Rooney Award - Philip Doyle and Fiona Coghlan
Guinness Hall of Fame - Hugo MacNeill
Women’s Player of the Year - Niamh Briggs
Club of the Year - Clontarf Rugby Club
