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Wing Tim Visser has called time on his Scotland career, announcing his retirement from international rugby this morning.
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Born in Zeewolde, Netherlands, the 6’5, 109kg wing scored 14 tries in 33 appearances in a five-year spell for his adopted country that began after qualifying on residency grounds in 2012.
Visser told Scottish Rugby’s official website: “Playing for Scotland has been the biggest honour of my life. I feel it has been even more special by not being my country of birth but where I had grown to call home.
“Being asked to play for a top nation in world rugby and being accepted by my teammates as one of their own has been incredible.
“I can still remember my home debut against the All Blacks at BT Murrayfield as if it were yesterday and the emotions that it brought me. However International rugby brings many challenges and, with a young family, the time away from home has been hard.
“I also feel that Scotland is in a fantastic place with some great young talent coming through and now is my time to free up the space for them to develop.
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“I want to thank everyone associated with Scottish rugby and of course my family and my wife Laura for supporting me through it all.
“Six incredible years with Edinburgh has led me down to Harlequins and I feel now is the time to say goodbye to international rugby and concentrate on my club career.”
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Visser marked his Scotland debut with a brace of tries against Fiji in Lautoka that year and repeated the feat in his third cap against New Zealand at BT Murrayfield, as Scotland crossed the whitewash against the All Blacks for the first time in seven years.
The following year he started all of Scotland’s RBS 6 Nations matches and marked his home debut at BT Murrayfield – against Italy – with a try, concluding the Championship with his sixth try for Scotland in 10 Tests – against France in Paris.
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After running out in two Summer tour Tests, his international involvement was curtailed by a leg fracture sustained in the domestic season. He did, however return a year later in the first game of Scotland’s 2014 summer tour and scored his seventh try for Scotland as the USA were beaten 24-6.
Visser remained a potent part of Scotland squads ever since, dotting down twice against Italy in Scotland’s 48-7 Summer Test win at BT Murrayfield to secure a place in the squad for the Rugby World Cup 2015, where he featured twice and scored a vital try after the break against USA.
Tim returned to the fold in the 2016 RBS 6 Nations and, after missing out on the opening two games, started the remaining three, registering a vital score (his 11th) in the home win over France.
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Tim missed out on the summer tour that year but returned in the autumn and the RBS 6 Nations in 2017, scoring two tries (against Wales and Italy) in his three appearances, and again in Scotland’s 2017 summer tour Tests against Italy and Fiji to finish on an impressive 48% strike rate.
Scotland Head Coach, Gregor Townsend, said: “I’d like to pay tribute to Tim who made and excellent impact on Scotland and did very well at an international level for his adopted country.
“Obviously it’s disappointing that we won’t be able to call on his services for the next couple of seasons, but we have a number of players that are competing hard and have come through in that position over the past 12 months who now have an opportunity now that Tim is no longer available to Scotland.
“We wish him all the best with his club career.”
2⃣ – Tim Visser crossed for 2⃣ tries against New Zealand in his first appearance at Murrayfield for Scotland, one of just two @Scotlandteam players to score a brace of tries against the All Blacks (also Doddie Weir at the 1995 RWC). Double. pic.twitter.com/oL2j0DlskT
— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) May 3, 2018
