Chris Paterson doesn’t need a Grand Slam to be an all-time great for Scotland

By DAVID FERGUSON
Published on Friday 23 December 2011 01:56

TWO of Scotland’s most lauded backs have paid tribute to Chris Paterson and insisted that, despite the fact that he did not savour a Grand Slam title and was never selected for a British and Irish Lions tour, he will still join the pantheon of Scotland rugby legends when he finally hangs up his boots.

Paterson announced his retirement from international rugby at Murrayfield on Wednesday but will continue to play for Edinburgh at least until the end of the current season.

John Rutherford and Gary Armstrong, who won 93 caps between them, both believe that Paterson’s place in history will be assured despite having played through one of the least successful decades Scottish rugby has known.

“He has had a brilliant career,” said Rutherford. “Who’s to say he won’t still be playing professional rugby in two or three years’ time?

“He played very well at the weekend and has taken himself off the kicking, which was tough with the injuries he’s had. He’s fit and he can play in lots of positions.

“There is no doubt, though, when he does decide to finish altogether, that he will be viewed as an absolute legend, and it’s right that he should be held in that esteem.

“He has played more games and scored more points than anyone. The Grand Slams were great for those of us fortunate enough to be involved in them but that is reliant on being in the right place at the right time with the right squad and coaches. A whole lot of things coming together, which is why it doesn’t happen very often.

“And there are a lot of great Scottish players that should have gone on Lions tours that didn’t, and Chris is definitely one of them. There’s a lot of luck involved in that, too.”

Bryan Redpath was Paterson’s first on-field international skipper as he took the reins for a World Cup game against Spain in 1999 but Armstrong was the captain of the squad and he was immediately impressed by the youngster selected for Scotland before he had even made his professional debut.

“He was just a natural player,” said Armstrong. “You could read Paterson better than Townsend, but they had the same natural talent to hit a gap and they were through before you could react. Very silky.

“I never had the experience of being with him at a club, day in and day out, but he always came across as a total professional, who watches what he does, what he’s saying, never gets into bother and never gets ahead of himself and knew he always had to prove himself on the field.

“People forget that we didn’t have a recognised goal-kicker when he came into the Scotland squad and he worked very, very hard at it. That’s not a skill that you get overnight – I know because I tried! It is down to a lot of hard work on top of the normal training that everyone does and, when you look at the levels of world-class consistency he achieved, it says a lot for him.

“It will be tough to follow him and I hope someone does, and learns from him, because people have probably taken for granted the kicking that Mossy has done for Scotland and the number of Test matches we have won through his kicks.”

Rutherford, who made his debut for Scotland in 1978 and won the Grand Slam in 1984 before retiring through injury in the 1987 World Cup, first coached Paterson at Scotland Under-21 level. Both he and Armstrong admit they would like to have seen Paterson continue as a stand-off in the senior game.

Rutherford was the first to move him to full-back but insists that decision was designed merely to give him a better awareness of the game as he stepped up a level, much as Australia did with Steve Larkham, with the same intention to move him back to the No 10 jersey as he matured.

Rutherford said: “I can remember taking the under-21s down to Wales and beating them down there and it was only the second time we’d ever beaten them at that level and the first time we’d beaten them in Wales. Chris was still just 19 but he was a major part of that success.

“One thing I remember in particular was the try he scored that gave us the game. Nobody at that time was chipping the ball from stand-off, the way Jonathan Davies used to do, but Chris chipped it through the Welsh defence and had the pace to get there before anyone else and scored, and we went on to win the match.

“He came into the squad when we went out to South Africa and he was class, and I think he would have developed into a good Test stand-off. But, sometimes it doesn’t work out as you expect, and he has still shown the quality he has because anyone that plays Test match rugby in three different positions has to be pretty good.

“The great thing about him for me is that he has survived in a world of big men and done it by being more professional than anybody else. He doesn’t drink, he’s looked after his body and in a game where the backs are massive now he’s not only survived but been a star.”

Armstrong was the scrum-half in Scotland’s 1990 Grand Slam and finished his career after captaining Scotland in the 1999 World Cup. He added: “I was disappointed that he wouldn’t come back to the Borders when we wanted him, starting the team up again in 2002, because he would have had the chance to play stand-off there.

“I could understand why he stayed at Edinburgh and, the way things went, it was proved to the best decision, although I still feel if we’d had him and Nathan Hines, and one or two others, we might have not had the problems we did.

“But I still would have liked him to have been left at ten and allowed to develop. Any player would play anywhere to play for Scotland – I’d have played flanker just to pull on the navy jersey – so you can’t blame Mossy.

“It’s easier said than done stepping up to international rugby, but he showed loads of potential at ten when he played for Gala and, when you look at the struggles we’ve had to find a good, consistent stand-off, you do wonder what might have been.

“It was a missed opportunity but, at the same time, you can’t look at Mossy’s career and say it was anything other than tremendous. He was a quality, world-class player who is right up there with the best that have played for Scotland, and I hope he continues to push on at Edinburgh for as long as he enjoys it and helps to inspire the next generation.”

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