Whilst post-match analysis of France’s trip to Scotland last weekend has been largely dominated by the contentious refereeing decisions that occurred during the game, there were other things from the encounter at Murrayfield that really stood out and which require further discussion.
One of those is the debut performance of Edinburgh’s Harry Paterson at full-back, with the 22-year-old coming in at short notice following the withdrawal of Kyle Steyn from the squad due to his wife going into labour (meaning that Kyle Rowe reverted to his favoured wing position instead of the full-back role that he had occupied against Wales). However, when breaking down Paterson’s display, it would be difficult to know that he had not spent much time before the match with the team, with him looking comfortable and showing plenty of positive signs both with and without the ball.
This brings the tactical analysis to an interesting question, which is whether Paterson could be the long-term replacement for Stuart Hogg at the back of the field that Scotland have been looking for, with them using Blair Kinghorn and Rowe in that role since his retirement. This scout report will look to provide some answers to that question by breaking down what the Edinburgh player offered during his maiden international game and highlighting what he can offer Scotland as they look to the future.
The key thing about Scotland’s tactics is that they have a strong desire to kick the ball whenever they can and to try and find their opponents’ weak points in the backfield, and that was certainly something that they did a lot of through captain Finn Russell against France due to conditions being wet and there being a strong possibility of knock-ons being conceded.
However, not every player kicked with the ball and that is where Paterson really stood out, because he offered variety around the pitch through his desire to get on the ball and to make things happen. Here, he has gathered up a grubber kick by France full-back Thomas Ramos and is now under pressure from the Toulouse player, and many in this position might have opted to put boot to ball and to perhaps try to put the pressure back on France behind their main defensive line.
Not Paterson though, with him instead making a darting run and getting around Ramos to start another attacking sequence and to try and gain another metre for his team, and that demonstrates his attitude and the fact that he constantly wants to play with the ball and to be creative with it in his grasp. He may not have got too far on this occasion due to him coming up against some strong French resistance, but the intent was there and that was what really stood out as the match went on.
That ability to carry and to be constantly aware of where the spaces were allowed Paterson to play on the shoulder of his teammates and to constantly offer himself as an additional passing option whenever they were looking to move the ball around the field.
However, whilst this is similar to what Hogg did during matches, where Paterson differs slightly is that he is content to not always be the one finishing moves off but to help create them too, with him on the inside here and receiving the pass from winger Duhan van der Merwe with Rowe on his outside.
On this occasion, he didn’t make that last pass to the winger and instead opted to again run with the ball and to exploit the gap that France have left open, and that here did lead to something as he managed to get behind the French line before offloading to centre Huw Jones, who then set up scrum-half Ben White to score the try.
Again, his intentions are clear to see, with his first thought always being to run with the ball and not to simply kick it up the field, and that will endear him to Scotland fans as it marries with their demands for an exciting style of play that gets them off their seats.
It was also an example of just how dangerous Scotland can be when they do execute their attacking play correctly, and the fact that Paterson was central to the try coming about shows why he has the characteristics to make the full-back position his own in the longer term.
Where he perhaps differs slightly from Hogg is his willingness to engage in rucks and to defend on the front foot, with him not hanging back behind his defensive line here (although he did do plenty of that during the game) and instead joining up with Saracens flanker Andy Christie and Edinburgh teammate Pierre Schoeman to protect the ball as soon as back rower Jack Dempsey had taken it to ground.
At this stage of the match, having the ability to assist in breakdown situations like this was crucial, with France constantly looking to counter ruck and to secure possession as high up the field as they could. Therefore, having a full-back who has the desire to work as hard as Paterson did will always help Scotland inside their own half and when they are under the pressure that they were here, with his contributions helping Scotland to keep the trio of François Cros, Dorian Aldegheri and Alexandre Roumat at bay on this occasion and to ensure that Scotland could recycle the ball without too much trouble.
This is not to say that everything in his game was perfect and something that he will need to work on as his international career goes on is judging moments better so that he commits to tackles and rucks only when it is right to do so.
In most cases, he did get that balance right, but the fact that the try that ended up winning France the match came from a decision by Paterson to move up the field towards Louis Bielle-Biarrey and to leave the territory behind him unprotected shows that this is still something that he can develop, with it inviting the Bordeaux winger to chase down a grubber kick into that open area and use his momentum to ground the ball before Paterson could recover.
Nevertheless, this should not detract from the overall high quality of his performance, because there was a lot to like about what he did and plenty of reasons to feel that he has a long career in the international game.
When compared to Hogg, there are certainly clear parallels that can be drawn between the two, and he is perhaps the closest replacement that Scotland have had so far. However, there should not be too much pressure put on him to play at Hogg’s level just yet, and instead he should simply look to build on a performance that head coach Gregor Townsend labelled post-match as “one of the best international debuts I’ve ever seen”.