Edinburgh’s ‘Flying Dutchman’ Tim Visser is hoping to carry his try scoring exploits into the Test arena when he makes his Scotland debut in Fiji this weekend.
The 25-year-old Dutch-born wing will follow in the footsteps of his father, who played international rugby for Holland, when he finally makes the grade in Andy Robinson’s side after serving a three-year residency qualification.
And with 37 tries in 57 games in the RaboDirect PRO12 behind him, making him the top scorer in each of his three seasons in the competition, he is ready to step up and push for the next level – possibly qualifying to play for the Lions in Australia next year.
There are a host of strong candidates to fill the wing positions down under on the 125th centenary tour – Tommy Bowe, Chris Ashton, George North, Alex Cuthbert and Sean Lamont among them – but nobody in British and Irish rugby can boast the try-scoring rate of Visser.
"I know there is pressure but I don't really feel it. I have my own expectations and I want to try to have a consistent game,” said Visser.
“I want to make sure that I get into the game and don’t make too many mistakes. I just want to win my first cap and look back on it and say that I played well
.
"I am going to have to adjust to the step up to international rugby. I have a long-term view of where I want to be, but all I can ask this weekend on my first appearance for Scotland is that I play as well as I can."
Visser’s father, Marc, played 67 times for Holland’s national team and captained the side for 15 years. His younger brother, Sep, is also a professional player at Edinburgh.
The closest he has come to playing at this level is with the Barbarians on their summer tours. He helped Edinburgh reach the semi-finals of the Heineken Cup last season, where they lost at the Aviva Stadium to Ulster.
“It has been such a long time, so to finally make it a reality is brilliant. It feels really good and I am very proud," said Visser, who previously played for England Schools U18, Newcastle and Northampton.
"I am really honoured to be able to represent a country like Scotland. I can't wait to play.”
