 | Thisbiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Chris Paterson" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(March 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Christopher Douglas Paterson[1] (1978-03-30)30 March 1978 (age 47) Edinburgh, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 12 st 8 lb (80 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Galashiels Academy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Rugby ambassador and coach | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Christopher Douglas Paterson,MBE (born 30 March 1978) is an ambassador and specialist coach for theScotland andEdinburgh rugby union teams. He is a former professional rugby union player who played for Scotland and, for the most part of his career, Edinburgh. Paterson is Scotland's record points scorer with 809 points and second most-capped male player with 109 caps. He was capable of playing in a range of positions, includingfullback,wing andfly-half.
Paterson retired from international rugby in December 2011 and as a professional player in May 2012.
Paterson started his rugby career with hometown clubGala, the highlight being a solo try that won Gala the 1999 Scottish Cup atMurrayfield. Soon after Paterson turned professional by signing forGlasgow[2] where he played only two games before signing forEdinburgh Rugby. In becoming a professional player he dropped out of theUniversity of Edinburgh where he was studying to become a PE teacher.[3]
From 2000 until 2002 Paterson played in the Scottish/Welsh League, the predecessor to the competition now known asPro14 (prior to the addition of Irish teams). He was part of the Edinburgh squad that reached the Heineken Cup quarter finals in 2003–04. For seven years he was a mainstay of the Edinburgh squad. With the ongoing dispute between the SRU and thenEdinburgh Rugby owner Bob Carruthers over the refusal to release Edinburgh players for a pre-2007 World Cup training camp, Paterson left Edinburgh forGloucester by mutual consent. On 24 July 2007, Paterson signed a three-year contract with Gloucester.[4]
Paterson's spell withGloucester was largely disappointing due to limited game time throughout the 2007–08 season. It was announced on 2 May 2008 that Paterson would return toEdinburgh Rugby for the 2008–09 season[5]He played 14 games during his stay scoring 38 points, the highlight being a 50-metre breakaway try in the derby game againstBath[6]
Paterson re-signed forEdinburgh Rugby upon leaving Gloucester and has remained a fixture in the line up ever since.One of Paterson's top skills – his goal-kicking – was typified inEdinburgh Rugby's last home game of the 2008–09Celtic League season which saw a 43–3 home win againstNewport Gwent Dragons on 9 May 2009. Paterson scored 28 points, kicking nine from nine with five penalties, four conversions and a try.
As of 4 April 2012, Paterson is the 5th highest points scorer inPro12 history with 778 points (21T 113C 4D 145P).[7] He played his last professional match againstBenetton Treviso on 5 May 2012 atMurrayfield Stadium. Despite an unusually long absence from the score sheet partly owing to injury, Paterson scoredEdinburgh Rugby's third try of the match leading to a 44–21 victory.
Paterson earned his first cap forScotland againstSpain in the1999 Rugby World Cup as a fullback. This was his only appearance during the 1999 World Cup. Scotland went on to reach the quarter finals before losing 30–18 toNew Zealand.
In Paterson's next appearance during the2000 Six Nations Championship game versusFrance, Paterson scored his first points for Scotland converting two penalties and a conversion in the 16–28 loss. Later that year Paterson scored his first Scotland try during the 2000 tour of New Zealand during the 48–14 loss atEden Park,Auckland.[8]
During the subsequent years Paterson became a fixture in theScotland team. His consistent performance for club and country earned him a place in Scotland's2003 Rugby World Cup squad.
During Scotland's opening2003 Rugby World Cup game Paterson scored two tries and kicked a conversion and a penalty during a 32–11 win againstJapan. In the next game against theUnited States Paterson scored 19 points, including a try, during a 39–15 win. Paterson played in the subsequent win and loss againstFiji andFrance to help Scotland qualify for the quarter final stage. In the2003 Rugby World cup quarter-finals, Scotland lost 33–16 toAustralia atLang Park,Brisbane.
Paterson scored 71 points during the2003 Rugby World Cup and was named the team's player of the tournament.[9]
On 15 November 2004 during Scotland's record 100–8 win[10] overJapan game atMcDiarmid Park,Perth he overtookAndy Irvine to become Scotland's second highest points scorer, behindGavin Hastings. He scored 40 points (three tries, 11 conversions and one penalty). This remains a record points haul for a Scottish player in a test match.
Two weeks later on 27 November 2004 againstSouth Africa he became the youngest, and lightest, Scottish player ever to earn 50 caps, aged 26, and weighing in at 78 kg.
On 26 February 2005, Paterson equalled the scoring record set byGavin Hastings for one game of six penalties converted in the 18–13 win overItaly. Paterson was the BBC's full-back of the2005 Six Nations Championship.
As a result of his incredibly reliable kicking and elusive running from full-back during the2005 Six Nations Championship, especially in theCalcutta Cup game, Paterson's omission fromClive Woodward's squad for the2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand surprised many critics and fans alike. This fueled criticism that Woodward relied too much upon his England team who had won the2003 Rugby World Cup. Ultimately, Woodward's 2005 Lions were unsuccessful losing the test series 3–0.
Paterson played as part of a resurgent Scotland team of the2006 Six Nations Championship who recorded wins overFrance,England andItaly to finish third in the table. This remains Scotland's best finish since the 5 Nations became the 6 Nations with the addition of Italy in 2000.
Paterson was captain during the2007 Six Nations Championship asJason White was injured.[11]
Paterson was picked in Scotland's2007 Rugby World Cup squad. This his third World Cup campaign. Similarly, with the previous two in 1999 & 2003 Scotland exited in the quarter final stage losing 19–13 toArgentina at theStade de France,Saint-Denis. Paterson played in all five ofScotland's games scoring 46 points. He deployed a flawless kicking performance on the final stage group game, adecider against Italy (against whom they had suffered a home defeat at theprevious Six Nations): Paterson secured qualification by scoring all points of Scotland's narrow 18–16 victory, with an impeccable 6 out of 6 kicking performance.[12]
On 9 February 2008, Paterson earned his 83rd cap for Scotland againstWales, passing the record ofGregor Townsend for a Scottish back. Scotland then went on to lose this match.
Later that year on 14 June 2008 he won his 88th cap to breakScott Murray's Scotland appearance record and was named man of the match in Scotland's 26–14 victory overArgentina inBuenos Aires. During the 2009 Autumn International againstAustralia, Paterson scored winning points in Scotland's historic 9–8 win. This was Scotland's first win over Australia for 27 years.
On 7 February 2010, Paterson won his 99th cap in Scotland's opening2010 Six Nations Championship match againstFrance.[13]
On Saturday 13 February 2010 at theMillennium Stadium inCardiff, Paterson became the first player to reach 100 caps for Scotland when he played in the defeat againstWales.[14] In the same game Paterson was seriously injured, suffering a split kidney which forced him to miss the rest of the season. In the same gameRory Lamont suffered cruciate ligament damage which ended his season, andThom Evans suffered a potentially life-threatening neck injury in a collision withLee Byrne.[15] This injury forced Evans to retire from rugby aged just 25.[16]
Later that year on Saturday 20 November 2010 Paterson gained his 101st cap in a 21–17 win against current world champions,South Africa, atMurrayfield coming on for the final 8 minutes.[17] Along withNikki Walker andNathan Hines, he was one of three players in that match who had also been in the Scotland team that beat South Africa in 2002.[18]
During the2011 Six Nations Championship Paterson was the 23rd man in the squad when he travelled toParis but played no part. Following Scotland's poor defeat toWales in the second game of the tournament, Paterson was recalled to the starting 15 for theIreland,England andItaly games. In addition to scoring 31 points with the boot in these three matches he justified his inclusion with an impressive try-saving tackle onBen Foden, when the England Fullback seemed certain to score.[19] This helped to keep Scotland in with a chance of winning the game until the last few minutes, although they eventually lost 22–16.[20] The following week he made an almost identical try-saving tackle againstLuke McLean during Scotland's 21–8 victory overItaly.[21] In the latter match, Paterson also became only the fifth player to score more than 400 points in the history of theFive/Six Nations Tournament.[22]
Testament to Paterson's committed performances during the2011 Six Nations Championship he featured in several rugby journalists 'Team of the Championship'[23][24]
On 22 August 2011 Paterson was selected inScotland's2011 Rugby World Cup squad meaning this would be in fourthRugby World Cup.[25]
Paterson scored 14 points in Scotland's opening game of the2011 Rugby World Cup in the 34–24 victory overRomania[26][27]
In Scotland's second pool game of the2011 Rugby World Cup during the 15–6 victory overGeorgia Paterson made a substitute appearance in the 70th minute his 13th World Cup appearance[28] one short of Doddie Weir's record of 14 World Cup appearances.[29]
In Scotland's third pool game in the 13–12 defeat againstArgentina Paterson equalled Doddie Weir's record of 14 appearances scoring a penalty.[30]
In what transpired to be Chris Paterson's 109th and final appearance in the ultimate game of Pool B againstEngland in Auckland, Scotland required victory to progress to the quarter-final stage. The game finished 16–12 in England's favour withChris Ashton scoring a last minute try to knock Scotland out at the pool stage for the first time.[31] In this game he set a record for the most Scotland World Cup appearances with 15 and furthered his own Scotland point's scoring record to 809.
Paterson announced his retirement from international rugby in December 2011; at the time, he held many of the most significant Scottish career records. His 109 caps was more than 20 clear of then-second-placedScott Murray; his 96 starts are also the most in Scotland history. He remained Scotland's most-capped player untilRoss Ford overtook him in 2017.[32] Paterson was also involved in more defeats (65) than any other Scotland internationalist. Despite not being a regular kicker until after he had amassed 26 caps, he retired as Scotland's all-time leader in points (809), conversions (86) and penalties (140). Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of his Scotland career was his versatility; he retired as one of Scotland's three top cap-winners at two different positions. Paterson's 49 caps on the wing were third toKenny Logan (63) andSean Lamont (52); his 43 caps as a fullback were also third, this time toGavin Hastings (61) andAndy Irvine (47).[33] In addition, he has the most caps of any player from the Home Unions (England,Ireland,Scotland,Wales) who did not appear in a Test with theBritish & Irish Lions.[34]
In May 2012 it was announced that Paterson would take on the dual role of specialist coach and ambassador with theScottish Rugby Union.[35]
During his time asScotland's andEdinburgh Rugby's goal kicker Paterson amassed 1860 points.
Paterson successfully kicked 36 consecutive goals forScotland between 11 August 2007 and 7 June 2008, not missing a single attempt during the2007 Rugby World Cup or the2008 Six Nations Championship. This run was brought to an end during 7 June 2008 Test againstArgentina. This is believed to have been a world record for consecutive successful kicks at goal in Test play since such statistics were first kept in the late 1980s; this record was broken in 2010 byMorné Steyn ofSouth Africa.[36] During the aforementioned Argentina match, Paterson also overtookGavin Hastings' long standing Scotland points record of 667, as well as equallingScott Murray's record of 87 caps for Scotland.
During his playing career he scored 809 points forScotland (22 Tries, 90 Conversions, 170 Penalties and 3 drop goals).[26]
ForEdinburgh Rugby Paterson has amassed 773 points (20T 113C 4D 145P)[7] in thePro12 and 287 points (9T,40C,0D,54P)in theHeineken Cup[37] He retired from international duty on 21 December 2011, and from Edinburgh Rugby May 2012.
Paterson's high profile in Scotland has been used in marketing campaigns for several companies. In 2011 he appeared on cereal boxes forScott's Porage Oats along with Ross Ford andThom Evans.[38] MacSweenHaggis used him to front a new product range[39]
Paterson was appointedMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the2012 New Year Honours for services to Scottish rugby.[40][41] In June 2012 he received an honoraryDoctor of Science (DSc) degree fromEdinburgh Napier University.[42]
