ONCE A CERTAINTY to be included in Joe Schmidt’s squad, Andrew Trimble’s hope of playing in this autumn’s World Cup was reduced again today with the news that the Ulster wing won’t play again this season.

Trimble hasn’t featured for club or country since injuring his toe against Glasgow in October and while he was initially recovering from the knock, he was forced to undergo surgery after re-injuring the same toe.

“It is anticipated that he [Trimble] will make a full recovery ahead of pre-season and the Rugby World Cup,” Ulster said in a statement.

While Trimble might regain fitness ahead of the tournament, there are a lot of wings at Joe Schmidt’s disposal and it would represent something of a risk to include someone who wouldn’t have played rugby in about year.

However, Schmidt will remember that Trimble was one of the key contributors to Ireland’s Six Nations win last year so that will work in the wing’s favour at selection time.

Would you include Trimble in the World Cup squad after a long lay-off?

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