Hooker Visagie in record books after quickfire try on home debut

» JACO Visagie set a new club record when he scored Gloucester’s fifth try against Worcester on Saturday.

The on-loan South African hooker finshed off a rolling maul just 23 seconds after coming onto the field at Kingsholm, making it the fastest individual try for Gloucester in the Premiership.

What makes it even more remarkable is that Visagie was making his home debut for Gloucester.

The 26-year-old may only be at the club for a short time after joining from Super Rugby outfit, the Bulls, on a three-month deal to provide valuable cover with fellow countryman Franco Marais sidelined with a shoulder injury but his name is likely to be in the record books for some time.

Visagie made an immediate impact when he came off the bench in the 56th minute of the Severn derby as his first job was to throw the ball in from a five-metre lineout and he then joined the back of the maul, putting the ball up his jumper as the pack powered over the line.

It beat the record for Gloucester’s fastest try in a Premiership game, which was a penalty try after 34 seconds against Harlequins on October 13, 2001 when Dan Luger was found to have deliberately knocked the ball on.

Visagie became the 29th Gloucester player to score on his home debut in the Premiership. His try was the third of four in 14 second-half minutes for Gloucester as they overpowered the Warriors on their way to a 36-16 win. “It’s great,” said Gloucester head coach Johan Ackermann.

“Credit to him and Val (Rapavaruskin), they went on and they brought a lot of energy in that moment that we needed it and scored the try and it was quite crucial at that stage to create that buffer.

“This is a squad effort and the fact that our bench came on and also contributed shows you the importance that it’s not just a 15-man effort anymore, it’s a whole team effort.”