Tim Visser (Dutch pronunciation: [tɪɱ ˈvɪsər]; born 29 May 1987) is a Dutch rugby union player, who played as a winger for the Scotland national team and for English club Harlequins.
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| Birth name | Tim Jan Willem Visser | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 29 May 1987 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | De Bilt, Province of Utrecht, Netherlands | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 109 kg (17 st 2 lb; 240 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Christelijk College Nassau-Veluwe Barnard Castle School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notable relative(s) | Sep Visser (brother) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Early life
editVisser was born in De Bilt, Netherlands. He was brought up in Maartensdijk and played for RC Hilversum, the club where his father played.[2] He joined the Newcastle Falcons Academy as a teenager, after having been spotted playing in the Amsterdam Sevens. On moving to England he joined Barnard Castle School and went on to represent England Schools at under-18 level in 2005.
Newcastle Falcons
editHaving signed a two-year contract with Newcastle in April 2007, he started the 2007–08 season on loan with the recently relegated Northampton Saints.[3]
Visser made his competitive debut in the English Premiership on 8 September 2006 against Worcester, coming on as a substitute and scoring the winning try. He played a further 10 games for the Falcons in his first season, scoring four tries in total, before finishing the season on loan to Darlington Mowden Park, a National Division Three club.[4]
The 2008–09 season saw Visser add another five tries for Newcastle in 21 appearances, but at the end of the season he chose to sign for the Celtic League club Edinburgh.
Edinburgh Rugby
editVisser was the top try scorer in the Pro12 league in each of his first four seasons for Edinburgh.
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 he again became top try scorer with 14 tries. He was again included in the Magners League Dream Team. Visser finished the 2011–12 Pro12 season with 13 tries, again being the league's top try scorer. With Edinburgh, Visser also reached the semi-finals of the 2011–12 Heineken Cup, scoring four tries in total during the competition, and was selected for the third consecutive season to the RaboDirect Pro12 Dream Team. In addition he was voted the Player's Player of the Season.[5]
In March 2015 it was announced that Visser would move on from Edinburgh at the end of the season to join Harlequins.[6]
Barbarians
editOn 29 May 2011, his 24th birthday, 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
editVisser opted not to play for the Netherlands in order to become eligible to play test rugby for one of the Home Nations. World Rugby eligibility rules state that a player may play for a country's national team after 3 years of residency. Visser stated in 2011 that he wished to play for Scotland when he became eligible in June 2012.[7] Scotland coach Andy Robinson named Visser to the 28-player squad for Scotland's tour of Oceania in June 2012.[8] 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.[8][9]
Visser made his Scotland debut against Fiji on 16 June and scored two tries in a 37–25 win.[10][11] Visser made his home debut against New Zealand on 11 November 2012 during the autumn internationals, scoring two tries.
Two tries in the defeat of Italy in August 2015 helped Visser clinch a place in the 31-man squad for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
On 3 May 2018 Tim Visser announced his retirement from international rugby.[12][13]
International tries
edit| Try | Opponent | 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 Tour | 2014 |
| [8–9] | Italy |
Edinburgh, Scotland | Murrayfield Stadium | World Cup warm-up | 2015 |
| [10] | United States |
Leeds, England | Elland Road | 2015 Rugby World Cup | 2015 |
| [11] | France |
Edinburgh, Scotland | Murrayfield Stadium | Six Nations | 2016 |
| [12] |  Wales |
Edinburgh, Scotland | Murrayfield Stadium | Six Nations | 2017 |
| [13] | Italy |
Edinburgh, Scotland | Murrayfield Stadium | Six Nations | 2017 |
| [14] | Italy |
Singapore | National Stadium | Summer Tour | 2017 |
Awards/Records
edit- Celtic League Dream Team 2009–10
- Celtic League Dream Team 2010–11
- Pro12 Dream Team 2011–12
- Celtic League Young Player of the Year 2009–10
- Pro12 Players' Player of the Year 2011–12
- Most tries scored by a player in one Celtic League/Pro12 season – 14
- Record Edinburgh try scorer with 59 tries (in all competitions Pro12, Heineken Cup, and Challenge Cup)
References
edit- ^ "Rugby World Cup". Archived from the original on 7 October 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
- ^ "Interview: Tim Visser, rugby player with Edinburgh". Scotland on Sunday. 4 December 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
- ^ "Saints loaned Newcastle duo". BBC Northamptonshire. 5 September 2007. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
- ^ "Newcastle's Visser in loan move". BBC Sport. 28 February 2007. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
- ^ Piperdy, Hash (7 May 2012). "News : RABODIRECT PRO12 AWARD WINNERS 2011/2012". RaboDirectPRO12. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
- ^ "Tim Visser: Harlequins sign Scotland winger from Edinburgh". BBC Sport. 30 March 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
- ^ Hannan, Martin (10 July 2011). "Scottish cap is in Tim Visser's sights". Scotland on Sunday. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
- ^ a b "Scotland debut for Ryan Grant as David Pocock leads Wallabies". BBC Sport. BBC. 4 June 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
- ^ "Five Uncapped Players Named in Scotland Summer Tour Squad". Scottish Rugby Union. 16 May 2012. Archived from the original on 20 May 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
- ^ "Visser Makes Debut as Evans Returns" (Press release). Scottish Rugby Union. 12 June 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
- ^ "Fiji 25–37 Scotland". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 June 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
- ^ "Scotland's Tim Visser announces retirement from international rugby". The Scotsman. 3 May 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
- ^ "CONFIRMED: Winger Tim Visser will not play for Scotland again". 3 May 2018.
External links
edit- Tim Visser on Twitter
- "Official website Tim Visser". Archived from the original on 4 May 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
- "Newcastle profile". Archived from the original on 29 March 2009. Retrieved 14 January 2008.
- "Edinburgh profile". Archived from the original on 26 May 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - RaboDirect Pro12 Profile[permanent dead link]
- Heineken Cup Profile
- Tim Visser at ESPNscrum
