Tim Visser is set to come back into Scotland’s Six Nations reckoning and as far as he’s concerned, he only knows relative success.
Scotland finished third in the championship in 2013 in his only campaign so far, as the Flying Dutchman missed out on last year’s dispiriting performance through a broken leg which had him absent until the summer tour.
“Missing out last year was hugely frustrating,” he admitted. “I played in Paris two years ago, we lost narrowly but I remember scoring a good try, although Matt Scott did most of the work to be fair.
“Last year I saw the boys coming in and out of training while I was recovering and that was not a good feeling. It’s great to be back involved.”
Sean Maitland’s injury has cleared a path for him back into the national team as Maitland and fellow Glasgow player Tommy Seymour had the wing berths nailed down in the autumn, but Visser believes he’s a more rounded player than simply the arch-finisher he was when he first broke into the national team.
“We used to play that wide-open style at Edinburgh, which was good for me as I scored lots of tries but we used to let through a lot as well,” he said. “Now we’re a team that defends really well and I think that side of my game has come on a long way under Alan Solomons.
“The style that Scotland play I think suits my game now, Vern wants us to play play the way Scotland have traditionally played the game, quick rugby where we solve any problems we have on the pitch.
“We’re being encouraged to play a more expansive game and that doesn’t necessarily mean just chucking the ball around, it’s doing the right thing at the right time and Vern’s given us the freedom to do that.
“Training’s a joy at the moment, it’s high intensity stuff and tough on the runners like me, but it’s good fun to be a part of because that’s how I like to play rugby.”
It’s important that Scotland put the emotion of the weekend, the first major sporting event in Paris since the Charlie Hebdo attacks in the city, in the background/
“That’s something they are involved with. As tragic as that situation was, it has nothing to do with us. It happened in their city to French citizens and they will want to do well.
“We are going there to play a game of rugby, we can’t be influenced by other things. It has to be a balance of aggression and pride, it’s so important to play with your head than your heart.”
The Scots feel able to produce a shock to the French system and get a rare win in Paris.
“If we were able to beat France away it would be a massive scalp and it would mean we were off to a fantastic start,” he said.
“We have three home games but you have to be able to clinch something away if you’re going to put yourself in the top half of the table. Also, it would make the other nations look up.
“We can really put it to France because at the moment I don’t think many outside of our own camp believe we will achieve anything, but my only memory of the Six Nations was two years ago when we finished third.
“I’d like to better that this time around, but it’s hard to make any predictions because it’s so competitive. No one has any right to put any team in a position before the first game.”