Scots are capable of ‘special things’

Visser says Cotter’s men will be armed with belief against ‘formidable’ foe

Visser added: “You’ve seen that with this win, we won our first game in the championship for the first time in a while and we beat France last year. England will be another step up for us.

“We will take the positives from this, but also really analyse that first half today. We can’t allow ourselves to get into that position again in the next game.

“Beating England at Twickenham would be the best result I’ve ever been involved in, but we’re not getting ahead of ourselves.

“We’re not the finished article, by any means. England are formidable and have been for the past couple of years.

“But of course we believe we can win at Twickenham. Just look at the evidence and what we’ve done in the last couple of years.”

Visser thought the most important aspect of his best performance for Scotland was not his involvement in the tries or the tackle of Rhys Webb that preserved Scotland’s lead in the second half, but his play under the high ball.

“It’s something I’ve worked on a lot at Quins,” he said. “I’ve been getting my reward at club level, so it’s great to take that on to the international stage and claim the ball back for the team.

“It’s so important. It’s something Tommy Seymour has done for a year or two now. It used to be a weak part of my game. It’s good to see results from the hours of work I get working with anyone I can find after training.”

Visser paid tribute to the contribution of Stuart Hogg in both tries. “We know he can do special things, we saw that last year against France, with that wonderful pass over his head to me,” he said.

“A lot of times he doesn’t pass! But I called him to make that one for my try and it’s important to try to anticipate him.

“Hoggy called the set move for the first try. We hadn’t got the ball wide in the first half and we wanted to try something different.

“Huw (Jones) ran the perfect short line and all I had to do was get round the back and find Tommy.”

The Scots squad now want to provide something more for Vern Cotter before he moves on at the end of the campaign.

“I think, for us as a team, we are building on the performances we’ve had under Vern over the last couple of years,” he continued.

“We knew this kind of form was coming. As players, we believe in ourselves and we do believe we can do special things for Scotland.

“The fact Vern is leaving has really put a date on the end of this era.

“We’re trying to leave him with as much as we can.”

The Scots suffered another injury blow with John Hardie out of the championship with a medial ACL injury. The back rower came off after 25 minutes but replacement Hamish Watson had a storming game.

The Scots’ options do look to be improving with the second bye week, Duncan Taylor playing a full 80 minutes for Saracens at the weekend and David Denton also continuing his comeback from injury for Bath.

Tim Visser has seen Scotland break three of their most nagging losing streaks in a year and sees no reason why the biggest of all shouldn’t go the same way in a fortnight.

Scotland haven’t won at Twickenham since 1983 – before any of the current squad were born – but will go into a Triple Crown match with the Grand Slam champions with growing confidence after the 29-13 victory over Wales at BT Murrayfield.

Visser has a pivotal role in the second half on Saturday with a try, an assist and a try-saving tackle as the Scots surged to victory with 20 unanswered points, beating the Welsh for the first time in 10 years.

Just over a year ago he scored as Scotland beat France for the first time in a decade and, of course, the Scots won their opening match of the championship against Ireland for the first time in 11 years, a sign that the old obstacles are falling one by one.

But England at Twickenham? Why not, reckons the prolific Harlequin wing.

“Anything is possible,” said Visser.

OSPREYS 26 GLASGOW 15

Ospreys moved up to second in the Guinness Pro12 table and put another dent in Glasgow Warriors’ top-four ambitions with a bonus-point 26-15 triumph.

Keelan Giles sent a message to Wales head coach Rob Howley with his 12th try of the season, before Josh Matavesi extended their first-half advantage.

All Black Corey Flynn got a depleted Glasgow side back in the game before half-time before they took the lead thanks to a controversial Peter Murchie score.

They won possession after Rory Hughes seemed to have left a high shot on Giles, and Murchie capitalised to sidestep two defenders and score.

But the hosts responded with scores from Tyler Ardron and Kieron Fonotia to earn the bonus point.

The victory sees the Ospreys leapfrog Munster, while Glasgow are 12 points adrift of fourth.

Ospreys were aiming to capitalise on Munster’s defeat to Scarlets and send a statement of intent to their title rivals, and they enjoyed a dream start after 10 minutes when Giles raced over for his 12th try in 11 matches.

Their second try, by Matavesi, seemed to spark some life into the visitors, and they were back in it three minutes later.

Ospreys handed possession over with a knock-on to put the Warriors on the front foot. Outside-half Brandon Thomson made a half-break, before Flynn barged over from close range with assistance from Scott Cummings.

Thomson added the extras to cut the gap to 14-7 at halftime before adding three more points after the break.

However, the Ospreys responded in emphatic fashion to secure the win.