Wales may have won the past two RBS 6 Nations crowns and provided the most players on the summer Lions tour but Ireland edged the last encounter in Cardiff and were hardly shy on numbers in Hong Kong and Australia.
“When you look at that Welsh side there is massive quality but, to compare it to Ireland, we’ve got something similar. We’ve got an awful lot of quality and I think we’ve under performed in the last few years,” said Trimble, a try scorer in Ireland’s 28-6 thumping of Scotland in round one.
“Scottish sides are always very physical but Wales will definitely bring that physicality, and maybe another level up. Their ball retention and the pace they play at will be a challenge.
“The Welsh backs (and) the wingers are enormous, (with) massive leg drive, really powerful. I think that’s going to be a big ask. With the six-day turnaround we just have to make sure we do plenty of homework and find ways to bring them down.
“The side that beat Scotland is capable of winning Championships, but at the minute, we’ve beaten Scotland, so let’s not talk about Championships, let’s talk about Wales. I think we’re more than capable of getting a result.”
Trimble touched down moments before the interval at the Aviva Stadium against the Scots as he marked his return to the international fold in the best possible fashion.
The Ulsterman hadn’t featured for his country since the under-strength summer tour of North America after he was overlooked for the autumn Tests against Samoa, Australia and New Zealand.
He admits he had just been delighted to have been recalled to Joe Schmidt’s wider squad and had no idea he would be starting the tournament opener and adding to his half century of caps, especially after he had been picked for the second-string Irish Wolfhounds against England Saxons the previous week.
“First touch, try! It was a pretty important score because I think it took 20 or 30 minutes for us to get into the game and then we did. We took them through phases and we wore them down up front. It was pretty important to get over the line and get that boost we needed,” added Trimble.
“A few phases before (the try) I thought we were starting to go forward. We were cutting their defence, getting round the corner and had a decent shape on us so I was getting pretty excited, just trying to keep calm and get over the line.
“I didn’t expect to be starting last week and when he (Schmidt) read out my name I was surprised given the way training had gone, in and out a bit. I was more excited than nervous just to get out there and get a chance to start – I really enjoyed that. The lesson I learned is to not read too much into anything. Just train as well as you can, be as accurate as you can, work hard and see what happens.”
