THERE’S A CERTAIN reassurance in having Andrew Trimble on the wing. The Ulsterman is quite probably the best defensive wing in Ireland, as highlighted by his performance against Wales last weekend.
Trimble made a try-saving tackle on Alun Wyn Jones inside the opening 10 minutes and went on to complete a range of thumping tackles, good reads and he even threw a choke tackle into the mix late on in Dublin.
Trimble was superb in defence for Ireland last week. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
After the defensive nightmare that was the World Cup defeat against Argentina, when Ireland were destroyed in the wide channels in the opening quarter, last weekend was altogether more pleasing for Joe Schmidt.
Trimble and Keith Earls on the other wing blitzed up well at times to shut down Welsh options and the same can be expected again today, with Dave Kearney having replaced Earls.
“That’s the way I like to play,” says 31-year-old Trimble. “That’s the way I potentially get a little bit of a licence with Ulster, as long as that back field is covered behind me and we get off the line.
Whenever someone inside me gets a little bit short then we have no option – I have to [shoot up], because then I’m not the bad guy if we get it wrong! I think it’s important we’re in their face and putting them and their skillset under pressure and if you give any of these guys a run up at you and space, they are going to thrive.”
Proactive, aggressive defence – it has always seemed to suit Ireland best but Trimble seems to judge the circumstances better than most in mixing his decisions between shooting up and sitting off.
“It’s probably a slightly different system,” says Trimble of the defence we saw from Ireland last weekend. “There are a few differences between now and the World Cup, maybe in light of the World Cup.
“It’s important that we keep our width and get up with a little bit more line speed whenever it’s appropriate. Just making sure that everyone is on the same page, knowing that when we go forward, we go forward together and when we go sideways, we go sideways together.
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Trimble has added to Ireland's defensive ability. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
“Communication is so important. You could pick any number of defensive systems to work with and they would all work if everyone was on the same page and that is the most important thing for us on Saturday.”
Speaking of communication, Trimble says the talk on the pitch is sometimes not even audible. Indeed, he stresses that communication in defence can be as much about body language as verbal interaction.
“Closer than you and I really,” says the Ulster wing when asked how close players need to be to hear each other in Test rugby. The distance he indicates is less than five metres.
“I think a lot of it, the communication is not verbal, it’s body language and shape, waving to people across the pitch. I think at times, our frontline defence was really, really good and our backfield was really solid as well.
“When guys get their space on the inside it helps us massively, it helps Conor [Murray] in the back field, Zeebs and myself, Earlsy and Johnny is there and everyone has to buy into it, not just the fullback and the wings.”
There was, of course, one defensive disappointment from Ireland in the backfield against the Welsh, namely when Jonathan Davies sent a delightful grubber down the left touchline in the first half.
Justin Tipuric chased, hounded Trimble into carrying the ball over his touchline and the Welsh scored their only try from the resulting set of scrums.
“Yeah it was tricky,” says Trimble when we ask about that situation. ”I think I got too high and found myself really as a fullback rather than a wing and I should have… I was kind of three-and-a-half.
Trimble puts the shoulder in on Ken Owens. Colm O'Neill / INPHO
Colm O'Neill / INPHO / INPHO
“In hindsight I should have stayed a little bit deeper and made it a little bit more difficult to get the ball past me and then I might have made him force an error. If it’s more difficult to kick then he has to squeeze a little bit further and that’s one of those things where I have to fine tune.”
It’s interesting to hear Trimble’s take on his most positive defensive contribution too, that hit on Jones to prevent an early Welsh try.
“Those situations you find they’re always a blur at the time and you can’t always put into words or describe what it is that’s in front of you, and something happens and you make a decision,” says Trimble.
“Potentially if I’d gone up and shown [Jones that he was drifting wide] and gone out again then potentially JP [Jared Payne] may have got around to him and it might have been the right decision.
“I think whatever you do defensively, as long as everyone’s doing it together and on the same page then it works. If you’re all doing different things then defences find it difficult to function.”
Mention of Jared Payne and drifting brings us to one of the other encouraging signs from Ireland last weekend. Though the outside centre does end up with his hips towards the touchlines at times, his work on the drift is vital for Ireland and particularly the wings.
“He drifts really well, right at the end we got Liam Williams on a good drift and I managed to lock him up at the end,” says Trimble. “Even with Ulster when Luke Marshall’s at 13 or Darren Cave or Jared, they all defend just slightly differently.
Trimble heads out for Ireland's captain's run yesterday. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“Jared would be slightly tighter and more of a wedge, because he does that so well. Just if you’re used to defending with someone else, you need to know that he’s coming when it looks like he’s not. That’s something you build up a little bit of trust with and we’ve got that now.”
Though Trimble has picked apart the defensive performance against Wales, both from an individual point of view and in a collective light, he has been spending a similar amount of analysis time on the French ahead of today’s clash in Paris.
The 31-year-old will line up opposite new French star Virimi Vakatawa, a sensation on the sevens circuit before Guy Novès convinced him to return to 15s for the Six Nations at least.
Vakatawa will be one of the leading players at the Rio Olympics 7s later this year, but Trimble is more concerned with keeping the Fiji native quiet today.
He’s a guy who is the same size, no disrespect to Alan Wyn Jones, but this guy is incredibly dynamic, the power in his legs,” says Trimble. “He’s going to be a handful, he really is.
“I think he showed against the Italians that if there is any lack of communication or lack of togetherness, he’s going to be really hard work. But that is only one of their wingers and Teddy Thomas is the other one, and he’s a big threat as well.
“To be honest, they have threats all through their back line and will be a handful. As good as our defensive performance was last weekend, I think we’ll have to step it up again.”
Defensive master Trimble to lead the line for Ireland against les Bleus
THERE’S A CERTAIN reassurance in having Andrew Trimble on the wing. The Ulsterman is quite probably the best defensive wing in Ireland, as highlighted by his performance against Wales last weekend.
Trimble made a try-saving tackle on Alun Wyn Jones inside the opening 10 minutes and went on to complete a range of thumping tackles, good reads and he even threw a choke tackle into the mix late on in Dublin.
After the defensive nightmare that was the World Cup defeat against Argentina, when Ireland were destroyed in the wide channels in the opening quarter, last weekend was altogether more pleasing for Joe Schmidt.
Trimble and Keith Earls on the other wing blitzed up well at times to shut down Welsh options and the same can be expected again today, with Dave Kearney having replaced Earls.
“That’s the way I like to play,” says 31-year-old Trimble. “That’s the way I potentially get a little bit of a licence with Ulster, as long as that back field is covered behind me and we get off the line.
Proactive, aggressive defence – it has always seemed to suit Ireland best but Trimble seems to judge the circumstances better than most in mixing his decisions between shooting up and sitting off.
“It’s probably a slightly different system,” says Trimble of the defence we saw from Ireland last weekend. “There are a few differences between now and the World Cup, maybe in light of the World Cup.
“It’s important that we keep our width and get up with a little bit more line speed whenever it’s appropriate. Just making sure that everyone is on the same page, knowing that when we go forward, we go forward together and when we go sideways, we go sideways together.
“Communication is so important. You could pick any number of defensive systems to work with and they would all work if everyone was on the same page and that is the most important thing for us on Saturday.”
Speaking of communication, Trimble says the talk on the pitch is sometimes not even audible. Indeed, he stresses that communication in defence can be as much about body language as verbal interaction.
“Closer than you and I really,” says the Ulster wing when asked how close players need to be to hear each other in Test rugby. The distance he indicates is less than five metres.
“I think a lot of it, the communication is not verbal, it’s body language and shape, waving to people across the pitch. I think at times, our frontline defence was really, really good and our backfield was really solid as well.
“When guys get their space on the inside it helps us massively, it helps Conor [Murray] in the back field, Zeebs and myself, Earlsy and Johnny is there and everyone has to buy into it, not just the fullback and the wings.”
There was, of course, one defensive disappointment from Ireland in the backfield against the Welsh, namely when Jonathan Davies sent a delightful grubber down the left touchline in the first half.
Justin Tipuric chased, hounded Trimble into carrying the ball over his touchline and the Welsh scored their only try from the resulting set of scrums.
“Yeah it was tricky,” says Trimble when we ask about that situation. ”I think I got too high and found myself really as a fullback rather than a wing and I should have… I was kind of three-and-a-half.
“In hindsight I should have stayed a little bit deeper and made it a little bit more difficult to get the ball past me and then I might have made him force an error. If it’s more difficult to kick then he has to squeeze a little bit further and that’s one of those things where I have to fine tune.”
It’s interesting to hear Trimble’s take on his most positive defensive contribution too, that hit on Jones to prevent an early Welsh try.
“Those situations you find they’re always a blur at the time and you can’t always put into words or describe what it is that’s in front of you, and something happens and you make a decision,” says Trimble.
“Potentially if I’d gone up and shown [Jones that he was drifting wide] and gone out again then potentially JP [Jared Payne] may have got around to him and it might have been the right decision.
“I think whatever you do defensively, as long as everyone’s doing it together and on the same page then it works. If you’re all doing different things then defences find it difficult to function.”
Mention of Jared Payne and drifting brings us to one of the other encouraging signs from Ireland last weekend. Though the outside centre does end up with his hips towards the touchlines at times, his work on the drift is vital for Ireland and particularly the wings.
“He drifts really well, right at the end we got Liam Williams on a good drift and I managed to lock him up at the end,” says Trimble. “Even with Ulster when Luke Marshall’s at 13 or Darren Cave or Jared, they all defend just slightly differently.
“Jared would be slightly tighter and more of a wedge, because he does that so well. Just if you’re used to defending with someone else, you need to know that he’s coming when it looks like he’s not. That’s something you build up a little bit of trust with and we’ve got that now.”
Though Trimble has picked apart the defensive performance against Wales, both from an individual point of view and in a collective light, he has been spending a similar amount of analysis time on the French ahead of today’s clash in Paris.
The 31-year-old will line up opposite new French star Virimi Vakatawa, a sensation on the sevens circuit before Guy Novès convinced him to return to 15s for the Six Nations at least.
Vakatawa will be one of the leading players at the Rio Olympics 7s later this year, but Trimble is more concerned with keeping the Fiji native quiet today.
“I think he showed against the Italians that if there is any lack of communication or lack of togetherness, he’s going to be really hard work. But that is only one of their wingers and Teddy Thomas is the other one, and he’s a big threat as well.
“To be honest, they have threats all through their back line and will be a handful. As good as our defensive performance was last weekend, I think we’ll have to step it up again.”
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