Duncan Weir empathises with Tim Visser, who faces up to four months on the sidelines with a broken leg, but expects his Scotland team-mate to return better than ever.
The Dutchman went off injured during Edinburgh’s RaboDirect Pro12 win over Treviso on Friday night and his club confirmed the player had suffered ankle ligament damage, which will require surgery to repair, as well as the shin bone fracture.
Visser, who has notched six tries in his first 12 internationals after qualifying for Scotland under the three-year residency rule, will miss the viagogo Autumn Tests against Japan, South Africa and Australia in November and is also likely to miss the start of the RBS 6 Nations campaign.
Glasgow Warriors’ stand-off Weir has recently returned from a six-month lay-off after breaking his leg against Ospreys last April.
After an open training session with the Scotland squad at Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow, the 22-year-old said: “We are all disappointed for Tim. He has played really well for Scotland in the last campaigns.
“He will be gutted to miss out but he will have a strong mind-set to get back and playing well.
“The first couple of the weeks were the hardest for me. After that it was about what I could do to be a better player when I came back and that entailed watching a lot of rugby, when I was on the sofa with the foot up.
“It is just about doing whatever you can do get back as soon as possible. I was a couple of weeks early and I put that down to doing the right things each day.”
Weir is back to full fitness and looking to cement his place in the Scotland set-up in the Autumn Tests and next year’s RBS 6 Nations.
Scotland kick off against Ireland on February 2 before hosting England six days later. They then host Italy in February before closing their campaign against France and Wales in March.
“Coming back from injury you are thinking about how your ankle is going to hold up in the first couple of games ,” he said.
“I just want to get a run with Glasgow, keep playing well and whatever comes with Scotland is a great bonus.”