All about Edinburgh: Tim Visser

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A chance of playing in the Heineken Cup knockouts and an impending Scotland debut, 2012 should be a fruitful year for winger Tim Visser.

The man who made a name for himself globally when scoring two tries for the Barbarians, against England in May, has been a consistent try-scorer for the RaboDirect PRO12 outfit since making the move north from Kingston Park back in 2009.

And despite the continued hype growing week by week regarding the finisher's expected end-of-season debut in a tour that will see the Scots tackle the Wallabies, Fiji and Samoa, Visser is admirably doing his utmost to stay grounded.

"I'm not really concentrating on it," he told Planet Rugby in an exclusive interview on Thursday.

"I don't think I need to as I'm not qualified until June so there is not much point in thinking about it. It's obviously in the back of my mind because there is a bit of hype but I have to concentrate on Edinburgh, controlling what I can control."

Visser moved to the Murrayfield outfit from Newcastle during the off-season of 2009 and was one of Andy Robinson's last signings before he moved into the international hot seat.

"He signed me and then he left," he said, adding that contact with Robinson has been brief.

"I have had a casual mentions from him though telling me to 'keep working hard', 'keep doing what you're doing' and 'keep striving to improve'.

"It's going really well here though. The move kick-started my career. I had a great debut at Newcastle but after a while I felt like I was stuck, with the coaching not really what I was looking for. I needed more personal guidance and that is what I've received at Edinburgh."

The 24-year-old is not the only Edinburgh player making waves in the RaboDirect PRO12 in recent months as Greig Laidlaw continues to impress both supporters and Visser, who believes a key international role is not too far away for the versatile half-back and skipper.

"I would think he would be involved for Scotland," continued the Dutchman.

"He's not only been a great scrum-half over the last couple of years but has stepped up to fly-half and done a great job there as well. It just shows that he is a gifted player who obviously has a lot of natural talent. He can kick, pass and he's a good runner with the ball. I think he's got excellent vision as well."

Visser was speaking three days after Edinburgh were held 23-23 against Glasgow in the 1872 Cup clash with their rivals, a result that saw them relinquish a ten-point lead late on.

Unfortunately he will not have the opportunity to attempt a victory at Firhill this Sunday though after Michael Bradley chose to rotate his line-up due to their upcoming clash with Ulster.

"The lead we had was enough for us to play out the game," said a clearly frustrated Visser.

"It was particularly disappointing because it's against Glasgow at home and we wanted to get a win. It was there for us, we were ten points up with about ten minutes to go and to give it away in the last part of the game was gutting. It wasn't like they did anything special so the draw felt like a loss, especially if you are the team winning. It was hard to take."

Edinburgh are currently in ninth position in the PRO12 but only find themselves nine points off the play-off spots, with Visser remaining confident that the squad can make the cut.

"There is plenty of time to go and it's not like we are a lot of points behind," he continued.

"We are not in the position we want to be because of how we did when the World Cup boys were away, but all is not lost and there's a lot of time left when anything can happen.

"We are a very motivated team who a few years ago had a six or seven game winning run to get to the play-offs so it is possible while we also have a great chance in the Heineken Cup so it's not all doom and gloom and are ready to go into the next year with a bang."

RaboDirect, the straight talking online bank, are proud sponsors of the RaboDirect PRO12. For latest news and to buy tickets visit www.rabodirectpro12.com

By Adam Kyriacou - Twitter: @PlanetRugbyAK

7s player of the year: Kelly Van Harskamp (Netherlands)
This tall flying Dutchwoman has been the key player for the Netherlands for several years, but her talismanic properties were never more important than in 2011. The Dutch, seeded second, had to finish in the top three at the European Championships to be given professional status, but when Kelly was suspended for the pool game against Russia and they unexpectedly lost. 24 hours later the Dutch were playing for that vital third place against the same opposition, but with Kelly back in the side this time the result was never in doubt - and the Netherlands became women's rugby's first professional team. Also starred for her team in Las Vegas, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, and Dubai - where they lifted their first international trophy.

The Firhill pitch is tight for rugby, but Chris Paterson believes the margins between Glasgow and Edinburgh are tighter going into the second leg of the 1872 Cup this weekend.

Tim Visser was one of the stand-out performers in the first leg.

• By Steve Scott, rugby correspondent
• Published in the Courier : 28.12.11
• Published online : 28.12.11 @ 02.23pm

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The teams couldn't be separated in the first match at Murrayfield on Monday, but Paterson, who was playing his first game since his announcement of his retiral from internationals, admitted his Edinburgh team were lucky to get a share of the points in the end — Ruaridh Jackson failing to convert his own late try and also missing a penalty that would have won the match for the Warriors.

Although the Warriors are thought to have a big advantage for the second leg due to being more accustomed to the narrow Firhill playing surface, the 109-cap veteran still thinks his team can bring in their primary attacking weapon Tim Visser.

The Dutch wing, who qualifies for Scotland in June, continued his extraordinary try-scoring record with his 9th and 10th scores in the RaboDirect Pro 12 this season, a rate of a try a game with the nearest challenger to his top-scoring crown having half that amount.

''Vis is unbelievable at finishing — you can obviously see that from his try count — but it's his ability in getting to the line that stands out, as we saw in the first game,'' said Paterson. ''He needed the TMO both times but he held off the last defender to get the verdict.

''His record means he's getting closely marked now, but he's still having a massive influence — that's how strong and powerful he is. The more space he has the better, but he's great in contact, he fights hard and makes yards if you get him quality ball.

''As a physical specimen he's fantastic, big and fast, but balanced as well, and strong. He's getting better every game he plays and he's been outstanding defensively this season as well, and some people had questioned his defence.''

Visser coming inside at Firhill will surely be a feature with room limited on the outside, but Paterson reckons there is nothing to separate the teams at any venue.

''Monday was a better result for Glasgow, no doubt, because we were at home, but there's nothing between the two sides going into this weekend.

''We all know each other so well, and we all have a fair idea of each other's lineout calls, some of them are used generically at Scotland. A lot of us work with the same coaches for a third of the year after all.

''It's pretty tough for one team to dominate for any amount of time when we know each other so well. The games are tight and the margins are tight, so the venue doesn't make a huge amount of difference.''

Glasgow will likely to be without Rory Lamont, who will be undergoing concussion protocols after a collision with Ross Rennie led to him being stretchered from the field, although he was conscious in the dressing room and walked to his transport to hospital for a precautionary check-up.

Lamont's head-to-head with Visser didn't really materialise as the Scotland wing had to go off, but Glasgow seemed to win a few key battles across the pitch and will be confident of retaining the 1872 Cup on Sunday.

David Lemi seemed to have the edge on Lee Jones on the other wing, Chris Cusiter clearly bested Mike Blair in their head-to-head at scrum-half, while after Edinburgh's impressive start the Glasgow second row unit of Al Kellock, Richie Gray and replacement Tom Ryder were far more effective as the game progressed.

Photo by Lynne Cameron/PA Archive

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