The opportunity to take a significant step to realising the goal of a quarter-final spot is not lost on Andrew Trimble, writes JOHN O'SULLIVAN

IT’S EASY to glean from a brief conversation with Andrew Trimble he would happily take the field for Saturday’s pivotal Heineken Cup pool match with Biarritz Olympique with a torn hamstring, much less the mild strain that saw him sit out training on Tuesday. A scan revealed no damage and he expects to play in a week in which he signed a new Ireland contract that will keep him at Ulster for a further two years.

On Saturday, Ulster have the opportunity to take a giant step along the causeway to the play-offs if they can beat their pool rivals Biarritz: bonus points, while an important consideration, are ancillary to the main aim of victory. Saturday can’t come quickly enough.

Trimble said: “Traditionally for home games in the Heineken Cup there would be a heightened sense of anticipation in the build-up but there’s obviously that extra incentive at the weekend of making the play-offs, something we haven’t done since winning the tournament in 1999. There’s a great buzz in training.

“I have been (here) for about five or six years and every year we would set a target of trying to get to the (European) quarter-finals. With each passing season and the failure to realise that ambition it became more and more frustrating. On Saturday we have an opportunity to take a significant step to realising that goal.”

There was a suggestion last season, particularly after the brace of victories over Bath – a feat they repeated in the current campaign – that Ulster’s perennial pool disappointment might not endure too much longer. The amalgam of youth and experience over which coach Brian McLaughlin and his assistants Jeremy Davidson and Neil Doak preside have shown periodic glimpses this season of real quality and character.

There have been some lumps and bumps too, results-wise, but that’s to be expected in a developing team.

Trimble explained the progression: “There is a maturity here now; we have leaders in key positions and that is reflected in the results we have managed so far.

“That wasn’t the case in the past as we probably lacked that sort of leadership. People are enjoying their rugby and we know this match represents a massive opportunity. The playing graph this season certainly hasn’t been going in a straight line – or up for that matter, as was highlighted over the Christmas period – but largely in the big games in Europe we have made more good decisions and that has allowed us to reach this point.”

The first of two hurdles on the forced march over the next week is the tournament’s bridesmaids, Biarritz, a side that doled out a rather humbling thrashing in France earlier in the pool.

They travel to Belfast aware a win will guarantee a quarter-final place and on the last weekend, probably a home quarter-final at that.

The French side will be difficult to beat. Trimble explained: “Dimitri Yachvili is the key player along with Imanol Harinordoquy and Damien Traille; they are the triggers, the catalysts for everything they do. If you can stop them then you can stop Biarritz. We have to target their strengths, stop them on the fringes and be aggressive in defence.

“Defensively, we have to be up for the physical collisions. You have to try and force turnover ball, build that intensity with your defence and try and frustrate them. Like most French sides they can be slightly volatile in temperament away from their own place. You have to get under their skin. If we don’t then we’ll suffer like we did when we lost to them in Biarritz. Nothing but a big performance will be good enough.”

While Ulster demonstrated great character and resolve in digging out a win at the Recreation Ground, it was a performance sprinkled with the flair and expansive gambits that make them at their best, entertaining to watch.

“We are fortunate enough to have the players to implement that style of play. We have bought into the patterns and while it might not work all the time we have shown this season that when we make it work we are very difficult to beat,” Trimble pointed out.

“There’s a lot to be said for simple rugby, well executed. We like to have a cut at teams, to put them under pressure in the outside channels. That’s the type of rugby I want to play, enjoy playing. You enjoy winning full stop.”

The team has gone a long way in this season’s competition to restoring the notion of Ravenhill as a forbidding place for visiting sides. Trimble knows though it is the integrity of Ulster’s performance that ignites the Belfast cauldron.

“Ravenhill is a factor only of we perform. We have to supply the momentum on the pitch, the reason for the crowd to be vocal. Ravenhill won’t do it for us.”