Double Dutch for Edinburgh as Tim and Sep Visser start for Edinburgh

By DAVID FERGUSON
Published on Saturday 18 February 2012 02:55

THE VISSER brothers from the Netherlands will start together for the first time in a competitive match tonight when Edinburgh face the Newport Gwent Dragons in the first of a gruelling three matches on the road.

Tim Visser has been a star in Edinburgh colours, scoring 34 league tries since arriving in June 2009 from Newcastle, to the point that Scotland supporters, coaches and players are counting down the days until June when the 24-year-old becomes Scottish-qualified and could inject a new finishing ability to the national squad.

His brother Sep, just 21, vied with him for try-scoring honours from afar until this season, the pair betting each other they would score more touchdowns in a season while Sep was playing for Tynedale in Northumerbland. Last season, Sep scored 23 tries at that lower level but the elder ‘Viss’ didn’t take that too seriously, and now he is being handed the chance to start emulating his brother in the black-and-red.

He signed last year on a training contract with game-time at Boroughmuir but was swept into the squad after good early-season showings, and he comes in at a time when Edinburgh are under pressure to find a way back up the RaboDirect PRO12 table without their current Scotland internationalists.

Michael Bradley’s side have won just once away from home in the championship this season, against Treviso in November, which the coach hailed as a launchpad for the team’s drive into the Heineken Cup quarter-finals. The Toulouse match is still six weeks away and the more immediate business is of moving away from the league basement. It begins with games against two of the three sides placed below them in the division – Dragons tonight and Connacht the week after – before continuing with a trip to one of the form sides in the league, Ulster.

Bradley insisted that his team had the quality, even without their Test men, and the ill Alan MacDonald and Chris Paterson, who is still recovering from a groin injury. But, in a similar vein to his counterpart at Glasgow, Sean Lineen, who is in Bradley’s old Connacht haunt tonight, the Irishman believes the real challenge for his troops lies in the Edinburgh heads as they bid to strike a first win in Newport since 2006.

He said: “Edinburgh have delivered some very impressive performances at home and away in the Heineken Cup and have come very close to delivering our home form on the road in the RaboDirect PRO12.

“These next three games away from home will provide a stern mental test for our players but we must embrace this opportunity to front-up and address the gaps in our performances outside of Murrayfield.”

Tom Brown, who made his Scotland A debut this month in the 35-0 win over England Saxons, comes in for only his second start at full-back in place of the injured Paterson and the only other changes to the side that lost to the Ospreys at home is the selection of Jim Thompson and Hamish Watson on the bench.

Edinburgh are working hard to promote the team and build up interest in the Heineken Cup game. Today, with the help of their Scotland stars Mike Blair and Dave Denton, legends Gavin Hastings and Jim Calder and the Heineken Cup itself, they will turn Stafford Street in the capital’s west end into a ‘Mini Murrayfield’ with fun and games, French food stalls, free parking and tickets on offer for the quarter-final. It kicks off at 11am and runs until 2pm, with the players appearing at 12.30pm.

Edinburgh have so far sold 7,000 tickets for the quarter-final on Saturday, 7 April (3pm ko), and while they hope for a new record crowd of over 18,000 the likelihood is that they will have to wait until the day to see if they have achieved it as supporters are used to walking up to a ground that holds 67,000. Defending champions Leinster have already sold more than 40,000 tickets for their quarter-final against Cardiff, at the Aviva Stadium on the same day – intriguingly, they attracted just over 7,000 for the 1995/96 quarter-final with Cardiff at Lansdowne Road.

Munster take on Ulster on Sunday, 8 April at Thomond Park and are on course for a 26,000 sell-out, while tickets for the Saracens v Clermont Auvergne quarter-final on Sunday, 8 April have just gone on sale and a capacity crowd of 17,000 is expected at Vicarage Road.

Edinburgh could help themselves by building some momentum in the league, starting tonight in Wales, in a game that will also be shown live at the Murrayfield Hotel, Biddy Mulligans and Three Sisters bars in the capital, and where the finishing of two brothers will be of major interest.

Newport Gwent Dragons: M Thomas; A Hughes, A Tuilagi, A Smith (capt), A Brew; J Tovey, J Bedford; N Williams, S Jones, N Buck, J Groves, R Sidoli, L Evans, D Waters, G Thomas. Subs: S Parry, P Price, D Way, H Ellis, T Brown, J Evans, L Robling, W Harries.

Edinburgh: T Brown, S Visser, M Scott, J Houston, T Visser, P Godman, C Leck, K Traynor, A Walker, J Gilding, G Gilchrist, S Cox, S McInally, R Grant (capt), N Talei. Subs: A Kelly, R Hislop, U Gamboa, E Lozada, H Watson, A Black, G Hunter, J Thompson.

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Turbrech

Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 01:23 PM

2 and 3. Daft. Tempted to personal abuse. But will refain.

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Sevendirtywords

Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 11:13 AM

Other than the players with age grade and sevens commitments who are these wingers being denied a starting slot!? Bradley has brought through A LOT of young Scottish players this season, give him a break FFS!

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DOOLALLY442

Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 11:10 AM

#2..agree ....totally ridiculous ........only there because of his brothers influance not because of his ability.....will be found out .....a Dutchman is keeping a Scots qualified lad from getting a chance at pro rugby......there's few enough spaces as there is

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Allenatore dello Sport Scozesse

Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 10:39 AM

Absolutely unbelievable I have watched Sep Visser regularly this season and he does not have the skills or game awareness to play club rugby, let alone for Edinburgh. His defence is also atrocious. Once again a case of who you know rather than selection on merit. Also there must be several, currently Scottish qualified, players who are far better than this import. Scottish rugby, has been selecting and developing unskilled players for the past 15 years. The outcome, we have no players in the Scottish backline with good basic skills. One tip for the SRU academy elite training or whatever they call them "Select players who have basic passing skills and then develop them into strong players!" It is that easy why have you not done it?

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spoot

Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 10:21 AM

Doube Dutch ... oh dear. Message to the sub responsible for this (if the Scotsman still employs such exotic creatures) - there's a job waiting for you at the Sun on Sunday.

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