HIT & VISS
Tim full of confidence Dark Blues can beat the stats and slay Dragons to home in on a second victory
THE eternal optimist in Tim Visser fuels a belief Scotland’s Six Nations won’t end in failure – this time.
The Harlequins winger admits his pint’s always half full at this stage of the championships – and that will rise or fall with a Murrayfield meeting against Wales.
History shows it’s been a decade since the Dark Blues last slayed the Dragons but the flying Dutchman doesn’t carry the burden of negative statistics.
It’s an opportunity to make it two wins from three in a tournament that provides genuine belief this campaign won’t be yet another false dawn for our national team.
Visser is supremely confident of a win over the Welsh this afternoon to bounce back from the bonus point loss to France in the last outing and relishes the challenge of bucking old trends.
He said: “The stats don’t lie, Wales are a good team. We’ve put some narrow defeats in against them in recent years, I remember losing here by three points couple of years back.
“Going to the Millennium Stadium is hard but it’s always a different game at Murrayfield. I remember sitting here in this press conference last year at this time against France and it was a similar story, it was 10 years since but we beat them and got the result. I’m the eternal optimist but it’s going to be a tough game.
“We’ve always been confident, certainly since Vern Cotter joined up. We try to take that into any game. It’s a universal mindset that has been changed by Vern.”
Visser was back home in London watching the bruising loss in Paris but he’s adamant that defeat hasn’t dented confidence within the squad.
And after being recalled straight into the starting line-up he also refutes any suggestion Scotland’s Six Nations energy had been sapped in France.
He said: “No, I’m bringing it. It’s always tough to take a defeat in a game you went into feeling confident, and we went over to Paris to try and win there.
“To not get that result was tough but it’s a long campaign and especially nowadays, with the new rules concerning losing bonus points, it’s very important you see out every game.
“Going forward we’re still confident but we have to learn from the games we haven’t won and take it forward into the
rest of the campaign. You’ve got to stay focused and keep the mindset going into the next game.
“We’re by no means the finished article and no one in that team will say that but we have to stay confident and work in the games going forward.”
The 29-year-old has also factored in home advantage as another reason to believe the Welsh can be beaten as he’s convinced the Scottish public have bought into the recent upturn in fortunes and are enjoying some reflected glory.
He said: “They are probably picking up on our enthusiasm. When crowds come to a game, especially an international game, they like to see themselves in the players on the pitch.
“When we’re going for it, are confident and enthusiastic, putting in performances like we have in the last couple of years, then crowds pick up on that. That has been the case here more recently.
“There is a real optimism in the country and the support has been fantastic. That comes back to playing at home. We are certainly looking forward to it and so are the crowd it seems. I’d like to say playing at home isn’t an advantage but obviously it is from looking at results worldwide.
“The stats of any team, maybe bar the All Blacks, show playing at home is an advantage. I’ve played rugby for more than 10 years and I still don’t know why it is better at home.
“Teams like to play in front of their own support. They know the pitch at Murrayfield, which is a bit different to other grounds with its try areas. We love playing in front of our own supporters. There will be thousands of Scots going for it and we are looking forward to that and hopefully Wales are not.”
Scotland’s triumph over the Irish provided a rare opening-day win and Visser said: “The Ireland game was really uplifting and it was brilliant to start with.
“We were full of confidence going to France and with our recent track record against them you’d have hoped we could pick up a win there that we obviously didn’t. But there’s a lot of confidence going into this game.”
Scotland assistant coach Jonathan Humphreys has had his fill of hard-luck stories and the Welshman is convinced strides made over four years with his adopted nation has only increased expectation against his countrymen.
And he said: “There has been a shift – especially over the last 18 months – in the team’s expectations of themselves.
“They love the fact they come into the stadium and can feel the anticipation. The whole of Scotland is really behind what is happening here. You hope the Scottish nation can see characteristics they like in this team and that is where you get that attachment. The bonds you create here with the players, we’ve been through so much, a last-minute loss in a World Cup, other huge experiences.
“They create real bonds between us all. So it’s not necessarily one nation against another – it is one group of players and coaches against another.
“Those bonds are stronger than where you were born. I just want to walk into the changing room and see the players happy because I’ve walked in there and seen them sad too many times.”
When we’re going for it and are enthusiastic then the crowds pick up on that
TIM VISSER