AS a Harlequins player, a fair chunk of Tim Visser’s daily existence takes place in the shadow of Twickenham. The 29-year-old wing plays his club rugby at the Stoop, just the other side of the Chertsey Road from the formidable citadel where England haven’t lost under Eddie Jones and Scotland haven’t won since 1983. But a bit like Govan-based Celtic fans or Rangers supporters in the East End, proximity only seems to have heightened his appetite for putting an end to Scotland’s misery on their day trips to London.
“I live quite close to Twickenham,” said Visser. “But not too close. I don’t like it that much!
“Of course we believe we can win there,” he added. “Just look at the evidence of the last couple of years. You have to break the mould at some point. So why not this year?”
Like the rest of this squad, Visser wasn’t even born when Scotland last won at the home of English rugby, a 22-12 triumph courtesy of tries by Greig’s uncle Roy Laidlaw and Tom Smith. But records are made to be broken. And it is worth remembering Saturday’s win against the Welsh came with John Hardie and Gordon Reid joining Alasdair Dickinson, WP Nel, Sean Maitland, Duncan Taylor, Greig Laidlaw and Josh Strauss on the sidelines.
“I wasn’t born then [in ‘83],” said Visser. “You can’t underestimate England, ever. We will go down there with a lot of optimism – but you have to be realistic. We will have to up our game to get a result there.
“But anything is possible,” he added. “You’ve seen that with our win over Wales. We won our first game in the Championship [for the first time in 11 years] and we beat France last year, something we hadn’t done for eight years. England will be another step up for us.
“Beating England at Twickenham would be the best result I’ve ever been involved in – and I’m pretty sure it’s like that for the rest of the guys, too. But we’re not getting ahead of ourselves. We’re not the finished article, by any means.”
Considering Tommy Seymour and Maitland started on the wings against Ireland, it speaks volumes for the harmony of this squad that Visser can fit in so seamlessly and speak of hoping to deliver a first-ever Six Nations championship for the departing Vern Cotter.
All in all, Saturday wasn’t a bad afternoon’s work from him. He scored a blinding 12th try for Scotland, made the line break and blind pass which presented Seymour with Scotland’s other score, and produced a try-saving tackle, while his prowess under the high ball frequently gave Scotland another way to advance the ball.
‘Seriously, it was brilliant,” said Visser. “For me, the most important thing wasn’t my try or even the tackle that maybe saved a try – but my work under the high balls. It’s something I’ve worked on a lot at Quins. It’s great to take that on to the international stage and claim the ball back for the team.
“I think, for us as a team, we are building on the performances we’ve had under Vern over the last couple of years. WWe want to prove to him that we have improved. We’re trying to leave him with as much as we can.”
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