Theology student and rugby international Andrew Trimble is admired as much for his brilliance on the rugby pitch as for his courage in talking about his committed Christian faith. Writer John Scally learns that there is no room for tokenism in the dashing world of Ulster’s finest.
World Young Player of the Year
In the autumn of 2007 Ireland marched with great expectations to the rugby World Cup. However, their high hopes were shattered with an early exit from the competition. It was a rare reversal in the career of Andrew Trimble, who 12 months earlier had been nominated as World Young Player of the Year.
A committed Christian, he gave up his studies in physics at Queen’s University and is now a part-time theology student. He spends part of his summer holidays in the poorest townships in South Africa, telling kids about his faith. In 2006, his first year on the Irish rugby team, he starred in Ireland’s Triple Crown Triumph. The same year he helped Ulster to their first Celtic League title. Then he really showed the rugby world what he could do with a vintage performance against the mighty All-Blacks in Ireland’s tour ‘down under’ that summer. Yet it is his public profession of faith that makes him stand out from other sports stars.
“The way I see it – because I have this talent – I can use it. Before, you wouldn’t have wanted to talk to me. Now I’ve got this extra string to my bow, and this guy from The Word magazine wants to interview me. So I’m going to tell him about the Lord Jesus because it’s the most important thing you can know. I don’t know if anyone’s ever died for you, but Jesus died on the cross for me and knowing that is very special.”
Faith the binding factor
Yet he cannot say that there was a precise moment when his faith became the binding factor in his life. There was no crisis or dazzling visions from heaven. In his second last year at Coleraine Institute, he met people from the local Christian Union and it transformed his life. He noticed they had things he didn’t have: a deep sense of peace and a powerful union with God that was noticeably absent from his own life. “That’s when I realised I wasn’t living my life the way I needed to be. A few things had got in the way of my relationship with God. I wasn’t a Christian and I didn’t believe I was saved.”
As a Christian he is very aware of his status as a role model for other young people: “Playing sport we’ve all got a competitive edge and you need to have it. If I forget myself for even a second and let myself down I know there’ll be people who will jump on that. And that’s a shame because I’m not perfect. Only Jesus was perfect.”
On the Irish side he plays on the wing but on the Ulster team he plays in his best position at outside centre. That is not an option with Ireland at the moment because of one man, Brian O’Driscoll. How does he rate the Irish captain? “Brian does have the absolute instinct for the essence of rugby, which is to score tries. He knows exactly where the line is. He’s got an amazing strike rate at a time when defences are so well organised and I think that says more than anything else about where Brian’s sniff and knowledge of where the line is. Brian’s qualities are too numerous to mention but to list some of them. He has a great work ethic and a healthy appetite for the more mundane aspects of centre play. He doesn’t shirk the defensive responsibilities and in fact actually seems to relish them. He seems to enjoy the defensive and offensive which is an unusual combination and only the great players have that. Brian does seem to have that instinct to be in the right place in the right time.”
“There’s an answer for everything in rugby except pace. Brian has that explosive speed off the mark, which he needs to sustain for more than 15 yards. He is such a rounded player with pretty much all the skills in abundance, not least his extraordinary evasion skills. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen him been incredibly effective and creative in the most unlikely situations. Somehow with his low centre of gravity he has been able to dodge and weave and has been able to offload to a supporting player.”
Fromative influences
Trimble is also keen to acknowledge the role of a number of formative influences on his career. “David Humphreys MBE has amassed a number of records, becoming Ireland’s most prolific drop-goal kicker and record point scorer. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Ulster for services to the game. In 1996 he won his first full cap against France and in 2002 he won his 46th when a second half replacement in Rugby Qualifier against Georgia at Lansdowne, equalling the great Jack Kyle’s record of most caps for an Irish out-half. Above all he is a great and lovely man. He has had a big influence on my game. It is such a pity that we had two such great players as Ronan O’Gara and ‘Humphs’ around at the one time, effectively competing for the one position over the same number of years.”
In sport today there is much emphasis on psychological preparation. Andrew’s is not orthodox:
“Before I play a really big match I often read my favourite passage from the Bible – Psalm 84:
How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts!
My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord.
My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.
Yea, the sparrow had found a house,
And the swallow a nest for herself, where
She may lay her young, even thine altars,
O Lord of hosts, my King, and my God.
Blessed are they that dwell in my house:
they will be still praising thee.
“That’s the heart of it for me. It makes me think that playing for Ireland is absolutely brilliant, a dream come true, and I’m going to love every minute of it. But being in the presence of the Lord is going to be a thousand times more amazing. So it makes me excited about playing and even more excited about going to heaven some day.”
Andrew’s favourite book is the Bible. He quotes from it with ease: “My favourite line from the Scripture is: ‘It is better one day in the Lord’s court than a thousand elsewhere’.
Photo: ONPHO/Lorwine O’Sullivan – Andrew Trimble in the Heineken Cup 2006
This article first appeared in The Word (January 2008), a Divine Word Missionary Publication.
