Tim Visser

Tim Visser

Full name	Tim Jan Willem Visser
Date of birth	(1987-05-29) 29 May 1987
Place of birth	Zeewolde, Netherlands
Height	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight	109 kg (17 st 2 lb)
School	Christelijk College Nassau-Veluwe Barnard Castle School
University	scotland University
Notable relative(s)	Sep Visser
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Wing
Professional / senior clubs
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2007–2009 2010–15 2015–	Newcastle Falcons Edinburgh Harlequins	57 130 8	(65) (345) (30)
correct as of 6 September 2015.
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2012– 2011	Scotland Barbarians	23 1	(50) (10)
correct as of 3 October 2015.

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

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.

Visser made his competitive debut in the Guinness Premiership on 8 September 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.

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 was the top try scorer in the Pro 12 league in each of his first four seasons for Edinburgh since joining 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.

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

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 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. Scotland coach Andy Robinson named Visser to the 28-player squad for Scotland's tour of Oceania in June 2012. 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.

Visser made his Scotland debut against Fiji on 16 June and scored two tries in a 37–25 win. 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.

Two tries in the defeat of Italy in August 2015 helped Visser clinch a place in the 31-man squad named for the 2015 Rugby World Cup by Vern Cotter.

International tries

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, US	BBVA Compass	Summer Test	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

Awards/Records

• Magners League Dream Team 2009/10
• Magners League Dream Team 2010/11
• RaboDirect Pro12 Dream Team 2011/12
• Magners League Young Player of the Year 2009/10
• RaboDirect Pro12 Players' Player of the Year 2011/12
• Most tries scored by a player in one Celtic League/Magners League/Pro12 season- 14
• Record Edinburgh try scorer with 59 tries (in all competitions Guinness Pro12, Heineken Cup, and Challenge Cup)

External links

• Tim Visser on Twitter
• Official website Tim Visser
• Newcastle profile
• Edinburgh profile
• RaboDirect Pro12 Profile
• Heineken Cup Profile
• ESPN Scrum profile