Irish rugby’s most underrated player ready to return

"There had been a fire on [Lansdowne Road's] north terrace, so some of it was closed off. To cover it up someone had placed a huge banner there with a picture of Brian O’Driscoll on it. I thought, 'Jesus, that guy’s kind of a big deal'."

It has been 11 years since Andrew Trimble made his debut for Ireland, against the Wallabies at the old Lansdowne Road. Originally flagged as a possible successor to O'Driscoll in the 13 jersey, the pair were eventually accommodated together in the Irish backline. Declan Kidney blew hot and cold in picking Trimble but Joe Schmidt has handed him 19 caps in the past two and a half years. When he is fit, Trimble is a Schmidt acolyte. He will do as ordered and do it with withering purpose. 'When fit' is the key here though. Trimble won Irish Player of the Year in 2014 and then missed most of the action in 2015 after injuring his foot. Trimble is getting back to full fitness and can think of nothing better than spending his New Years' Eve on the wing at the RDS. The Ulster winger has been out of action for four weeks after damaging ligaments in his foot during Ireland's hard-fought win over Australia. You hear 'Trimble' and 'foot' and you fear the worst. Luckily, though, the 32-year-old was not sidelined for too long. At half-time in Ulster's Guinness PRO12 win over Connacht, Trimble told BBC:

"It's going in the right direction. I just didn't get there in time [for Connacht] but I've done plenty of running the last couple of weeks - punishment for not really being 100% fit. It's just that sharp change of direction that's not right there. "Unfortunately, I get to do a lot more running now with [head of fitness] Jonny Davis... I hope I'll be ready for Leinster. If I can get in at the start of next week and not stuff my face too much, hopefully we'll see how we go."

Trimble has had time to catch up on Ireland's recent, history-making achievements in Test rugby and says he is proud to be a part of a team that is clearly going places. He is not as prolific with Ireland, when it comes to try-scoring, as he is for Ulster and much of his hardest work often goes unnoticed. His kick-chasing, ferocious tackling and defensive awareness are key assets to Schmidt's Ireland and we saw how much he was missed in the World Cup quarter-final exit to Argentina. Trimble pips Devin Toner as the Ireland's most underrated player but Schmidt, and his teammates, will be grateful once he gets back and gets some game-time under his belt.