This summer Tim Visser will be eligible to play for Scotland
24-year-old Tim Visser has penned a new deal with Edinburgh Rugby, keeping the try-machine in the Scotland capital until 2015.
Head coach Michael Bradley said: “Tim [Visser] is very much at home in Edinburgh and I’m sure that today’s announcement will make us the envy of many clubs in Europe. His consistency is what sets him apart. Year after year he has surpassed his own remarkable achievements and that desire, passion and ability is exactly what we look for in all of our players.
“This is a very exciting time for Edinburgh Rugby. Not only are we preparing to be the first Scottish club to host a quarter-final in the Heineken Cup, we are working exceptionally hard behind the scenes to ensure we have the right players in place so we can continue to break new ground and celebrate even greater successes in the years ahead.”
Visser’s try-scoring feats have made him a hit with supporters since he arrived from Newcastle Falcons in 2009, topping the RaboDirect PRO12 scoring charts in his first two years and breaking the record for the most scores in a single season last year with 14 touchdowns.
Twickenham bore witness to his talents for finding the try line last summer when a brace for the Barbarians completed a 17 point comeback and victory against England, 38-32.
This season it’s been business as usual for the 6’4”, 17 stone fans’ favourite, whose ten league tries puts him four clear at the top of the charts in the current PRO12 campaign with seven regular rounds remaining to topple his record.
His four tries from the six pool rounds of the club’s historic Heineken Cup campaign means he has the added opportunity to expand his impressive try tally of 40 scores in 66 appearances in the quarter-final against Toulouse at Murrayfield on Easter weekend (Saturday 7 April).
“I’ve loved my time at Edinburgh Rugby, I feel right at home in the city and have had three great years of playing the rugby of my life”, Visser enthused. “I couldn’t do any of that without the support of the coaching, strength and conditioning staff and fellow players who have transformed me as a rugby player since I arrived, both physically and mentally.”
This summer Visser will complete three years of residency in the country making him eligible for selection for Scotland’s summer Test matches against Samoa and Fiji.
While his previous deal would have taken him a season past this landmark, Visser was explicit in his reasoning for committing his future to the Murrayfield club.
He added: “There’s been a lot of talk, particularly among Edinburgh fans, about my qualification for Scotland. It would be an absolute honour to represent Scotland, a country whose fans have adopted me into their rugby family and made me the player I am today. If my performances merit selection for the national team then it would be a very proud moment indeed and I would do everything in my power to repay the support shown to me in these past three years.”