Tim Visser

Tim Visser
Full name Tim Jan Willem Visser
Date of birth 29 May 1987
Place of birth Zeewolde, Netherlands
Height 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 109 kg (17 st 2 lb)
School Christelijk College Nassau-Veluwe
Barnard Castle School
University Northumbria University
Notable relative(s) Sep Visser
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position Wing
Professional / senior clubs
Years Club / team Caps (points)
2007–2009
2010–		 Newcastle Falcons
Edinburgh		 57
127		 (65)
(335)
correct as of 27 April 2015.
National team(s)
Years Club / team Caps (points)
2012–
2011		 Scotland
Barbarians		 18
1		 (35)
(10)
correct as of 21 March 2015.

Tim Visser (born 29 May 1987 in Zeewolde) is a Dutch-born Scottish rugby union player currently playing on the wing for Edinburgh Rugby in the Guinness Pro12 and internationally representing Scotland. He is the first Dutch rugby player to play professionally.[1]

Early career

Visser joined the Newcastle Falcons Academy as a teenager, after having been spotted playing in the Amsterdam Sevens. Moving from the Netherlands – where he played for RC Hilversum – to England he joined Barnard Castle School and went on to represent England Schools at under 18 level in 2005.

Newcastle Falcons

Having signed a two-year contract with Newcastle in April 2007, he started the 2007/08 season on loan with the recently relegated Northampton Saints.[2]

Visser made his competitive debut in the Guinness Premiership on September 8, 2006 against Worcester, coming on as a substitute and grabbing the winning try. He played a further 10 games for the Falcons in his first season, scoring 4 tries in total, before finishing the season on loan to Darlington Mowden Park, a National Division Three club.[3]

The 2008/09 season saw Visser add another 5 tries to his tally with Newcastle in 21 appearances, but at the end of the season he chose to sign for the Magners League outfit Edinburgh.

Edinburgh Rugby

Visser has been the top try scorer in the Pro 12 league every season since he joined Edinburgh in 2009/10.

In his first season in the Scottish capital Visser became top scorer in the Magners League with 10 tries, winning the Young Player of the Season Award and being named in the Magners League Dream Team. In the 2010/11 season Visser once again became top try scorer of the Magners League with 14 tries in total. He was again included in the Magners League Dream Team. Visser finished the 2011/12 Pro12 season with 13 tries, again becoming the league's top try scorer. With Edinburgh, Visser also reached the semi-finals of the 2011–12 Heineken Cup, scoring 4 tries in total during the competition, obtaining his third successive inclusion to the RaboDirect Pro12 Dream Team. In addition he was voted the Player's Player of the Season.[4]

In March 2015 it was announced that Visser would move on from Murrayfield at the end of the season to join Harlequins.[5]

Barbarians

On 29 May 2011, Visser made his debut for the Barbarians against England. Visser scored two tries, including a last effort try which saw the Barbarians snatch away the victory from England at Twickenham.

International career

Visser was eligible to play for the Netherlands, but opted not to do so in order to become eligible to play test rugby for one of the Home Nations. IRB eligibility rules state that a player may play for the senior fifteen-a-side National Representative Team of the Union of the country in which he has completed 36 consecutive months of residence. Visser stated in 2011 that he wished to play for Scotland when he would become eligible in June 2012.[6] Scotland coach Andy Robinson named Visser to the 28-player squad for Scotland's tour of Oceania in June 2012.[7] He completed his three years of residency on 12 June and thus was not available for the match in Australia on 5 June, but was available for their two remaining tests against Fiji and Samoa.[7][8] Visser made his Scotland debut against Fiji on 16 June and scored two tries in a 37–25 win.[9][10] Visser made his debut on home soil in a match against New Zealand on 11 November 2012 during the Autumn Internationals. During this Murrayfield test debut he scored two tries against the world champion All Blacks.

International tries

Try Opposing Team City/Country Venue Competition Year
[1-2]  Fiji Lautoka, Fiji Churchill Park Summer Tour 2012
[3-4]  New Zealand Edinburgh, Scotland Murrayfield Stadium Autumn Test 2012
[5]  Italy Edinburgh, Scotland Murrayfield Stadium Six Nations 2013
[6]  France Saint-Denis, France Stade de France Six Nations 2013
[7]  United States Houston, USA BBVA Compass Summer Test 2014

Awards/Records

References

  1. ↑ "Edinburgh land Dutchman Tim Visser". The Telegraph. 27 May 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  2. ↑ "Saints loaned Newcastle duo". BBC Northamptonshire. 5 September 2007. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  3. ↑ "Newcastle's Visser in loan move". BBC Sport. 28 February 2007. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  4. ↑ Piperdy, Hash (2012-05-07). "News : RABODIRECT PRO12 AWARD WINNERS 2011/2012". RaboDirectPRO12. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
  5. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/32108681
  6. ↑ Hannan, Martin (10 July 2011). "Scottish cap is in Tim Visser's sights". Scotland on Sunday. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Scotland debut for Ryan Grant as David Pocock leads Wallabies". BBC Sport (BBC). 4 June 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  8. ↑ "Five Uncapped Players Named in Scotland Summer Tour Squad". Scottish Rugby Union. 16 May 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  9. ↑ "Visser Makes Debut as Evans Returns" (Press release). Scottish Rugby Union. 12 June 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
  10. ↑ "Fiji 25-37 Scotland". BBC Sport (BBC). 16 June 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2012.

External links