The wing Tim Visser has been recalled by Scotland as they attempt to avoid a 10th straight Six Nations defeat when they face Italy in Rome on Saturday. A hamstring tear cost him involvement in the first two games of the championship, but he’s played two full 80 minutes for Harlequins since and his scoring prowess has continued largely unabated since he moved to the London club from Edinburgh in the summer.
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A tenth at the hands of the Azzurri would make the Scots odds-on favourites to land the wooden spoon for the second successive year, and increase the volume of discontent over the direction of the game in Scotland.
“When you play rugby, especially at worldwide level, you invest a huge amount of emotion into it. And when you come off the back of a loss, it’s tough. Italy are a good side at home and we’ve got to go over there and get a good win”.
‘I am obviously heavily dependent on how the games goes and on the players inside me – but I trust myself to be in the right place at the right time because I tend to be good at that. “For us, this is make or break for the Six Nations”. But then the World Cup was a big blow and now another one. “We’ve missed out on crucial points at crucial stages of games”.
“Italy have shown they are a talented team, particularly in their performance away against France, but also against England”.
“It will be tight but if we stay the course we think we will win”. “Having not played worldwide rugby since 1993 it was great to be back that year too”. “That is the message, that we’re going out there to get a win, to stay positive – and to believe in the way we’ve played, because it has been working for large parts of the year already”.
“A mental barrier? I certainly think winning is a habit and an art. And I think if we can get that win and get a couple on the bounce, you will start to see a more confident side and a side that knows what it can do”.
That’s the only thing in rugby that I am genuinely good at.
“We feel as a team we are hugely improved and we just need to get a little bit more out of each other and get across the line”.
The SRU announced yesterday that Vern Cotter has released six Glasgow Warriors players from the Scotland squad to play against the Dragons.
‘If you win one or both of those games, and it literally is down to one kick or less, then suddenly you are in the top three.
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Duncan Taylor, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c); 1 Alasdair Dickinson, 2 Ross Ford, 3 Willem Nel, 4 Richie Gray, 5 Jonny Gray, 6 John Barclay, 7 John Hardie, 8 David Denton.
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He is the only change to Vern Cotter’s side that was narrowly beaten in Cardiff, replacing Sean Lamont who drops to a bench that also includes 23-year-old Edinburgh loose-head Rory Sutherland, who could win his first cap.
