Visser's historic hat-trick seals the deal
Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:11
Tim Visser wrote himself into the record books with a memorable hat-trick against Magners League title contenders Ospreys at Murrayfield on Sunday to ensure Edinburgh racked up a 33-17 five-point win.
The Dutch wing became the first ever Edinburgh player to score three tries in a Magners League fixture and in the process scored the quickest ever hat-trick in the tournament's history – crossing the whitewash three times in just five minutes.
In front of a jubilant crowd of 2,329, Edinburgh played at a frenetic tempo and maintained that throughout the match.
But the home side had to be patient to prise open a streetwise Ospreys defence, which contained three former All Blacks including captain Jerry Collins.
Nevertheless that careful approach finally paid off with six minutes of the first half remaining and, with the scoreline still blank, Ben Cairns swapped passes with Visser before sliding over to score.
David Blair, who later went off with a mouth injury, added the conversion to hand Edinburgh a seven-point advantage heading into the half-time break.
After the interval, Edinburgh cranked up the pressure and Visser, on as a first half replacement for the injured Simon Webster (rib), linked up again with Cairns and this time the powerful back from Zeewolde raced through to score.
He supplemented that feat moments later by kicking the ball through past the Ospreys defence and chasing it to dot down in the corner.
His accurate footwork was more reminiscent of his countryman, soccer legend Johan Cruyff, and the try stunned the Ospreys into submission.
But far from stepping their foot off the gas, Edinburgh kept going and Visser scored again on the 52-minute mark underneath the posts to cap off a phenomenal five minute spell.
Replacement Phil Godman nailed two out of the three conversion attempts to put Edinburgh ahead by an extraordinary 26 points.
Then three minutes, fellow wing Mark Robertson got in on the try-scoring act by brushing off the Ospreys defence to score a stylish solo effort.
The subsequent Godman conversion meant that Edinburgh were 33 points ahead with less than an hour played – a marvellous period of attacking rugby from the Black and Red Army.
The Ospreys responded with three tries from Nikki Walker, Collins and Sonny Parker, but it was too little, too late for the much fancied Welsh region.
The only sour note to emerge from the game was the fact that replacement lock Craig Hamilton was stretchered off in the second half with a head injury.
Edinburgh scored five tries against Ospreys, who had started the day in pole position in the Magners League standings, and the final five matches of the regular season now promise to be hugely exciting.
Was this the first step towards clinching a place in May's Grand Final?
If Edinburgh can consistently replicate that type of performance over the next two months it would be a brave punter to bet against them.
The scorers:
For Edinburgh:
Tries: Cairns, Visser 3, Robertson
Cons: Blair, Godman 3
For the Ospreys:
Tries: Walker, Collins, Parker
Con: Biggar
Teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Ben Cairns, 14 Mark Robertson, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 John Houston, 11 Simon Webster, 10 David Blair, 9 Mike Blair (captain), 8 Roddy Grant, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Alan MacDonald, 5 Steve Turnbull, 4 Scott MacLeod, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Andrew Kelly, 1 Kyle Traynor.
Replacements: 16 Sean Crombie, 17 Ryan Grant, 18 Craig Hamilton, 19 David Callam, 20 Greig Laidlaw, 21 Phil Godman, 22 Tim Visser.
Ospreys: 15 Gareth Owen/Barry Davies, 14 Jonny Vaughton, 13 Sonny Parker, 12 Andrew Bishop, 11 Nikki Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Mike
Phillips, 8 Filo Tiatia, 7 Marty Holah, 6 Jerry Collins (captain), 5 Ian Evans, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Craig Mitchell, 2 Richard Hibbard/Ed Shervington, 1 Ryan Bevington.
Replacements: 16 Ed Shervington/Marc Breeze, 17 Cai Griffiths, 18 Andy Lloyd/James Goode, 19 Steve Tandy/Ben Lewis, 20 Jamie Nutbrown, 21 Ashley Beck, 22 Barry Davies/Gareth Owen.
Referee: George Clancy
Assistant Referees: David Changleng (SRU), Bob Nevans (SRU)
TMO: Iain Ramage (SRU)
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