Tim Visser calls time on Scotland career

Photo: (Getty Images)
By Jake Jones

Scotland wing Tim Visser today announced his decision to retire from international rugby.

Visser said: “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.

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.

“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.”

Visser marked his Scotland debut with a brace of tries against Fiji in 2012 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 Dutch born winger ran out 33 times for Scotland, scoring 14 tries in the process.