EGGSTASY TO AGONY
Paterson’s shock debut ends in heartache with late TMO call
HARRY PATERSON was tucking into some poached eggs on Saturday morning when he picked up a call from Gregor Townsend.
It wasn’t the eggs but rather his head that was soon scrambled as the Edinburgh youngster was told to get ready for the most unexpected of Scotland debuts.
With just eight appearances as a professional, the 22-year-old assumed his invite to join Townsend’s Six Nations squad would extend only to making up the numbers in training.
But a combination of injuries and the news that Kyle Steyn’s wife had gone into labour on the morning of the showdown with France meant Paterson was the last man standing to fill the No.15 jersey.
Rugby at this level is all new to the fresh-faced back and he admits he was briefly gripped by panic as the prospect of facing a star-studded Les Bleus outfit dawned. By the time referee Nic Berry blew the final whistle on the most controversial of Test match endings, however, Paterson was experiencing a feeling most of his teammates know all too well.
For all the talent and all the improvements this side have made in recent years, they remain undoubtedly the nearly men of the Northern Hemisphere.
They nearly blew it in Cardiff last week. They nearly won it at the weekend. But as has regularly been the case, nearly wasn’t good enough.
“It’s a confusing one to take,” admitted Paterson as he looked back on the day. “On Saturday morning I presumed I’d be 24th man and travelling reserve. But things changed pretty quickly.
“I only found out at 9am, which is actually better as you’ve got less time to stress through the week. I got a full night’s sleep as well.
“I was halfway through my breakfast when Gregor called me. I didn’t really eat much after that. I was eating some poached eggs on toast with some baked beans.
“I had to say goodbye to that. I managed to force a couple of bananas down me but that’s it. There was about five minutes of panic but I stabilised after that.
“I called my dad, which was a bad idea actually as I got a bit emotional. I should have just
texted him but knew I had other things on my mind. It was a nice moment.
“It was an awesome day but just really confusing in the end.
“In my wildest dreams did I expect to play? No, not this quickly. It’s always been a dream of mine to play for Scotland but not this quickly and not this way. “I didn’t think it would happen so soon. My first week in camp I was a wee bit taken aback by everything. It was a wee bit different.
“But once I got a few training sessions under my belt you realise it’s just rugby. It’s just a bit faster and everyone is a bit more on it but it’s still rugby.”
Paterson wasn’t the only one confused as the clock turned red. Sam Skinner’s late charge for the line had the Murrayfield crowd on their feet in anticipation of the winning try.
Just as well the punters didn’t hold their breath as it took Berry and his TMO Brian MacNeice five long minutes to comb through all the available video evidence and conclude Skinner had failed to get the ball down.
The decision left the capital crowd stunned, especially given there seemed to be one angle showing the ball in contact with the whitewash.
“We all thought we saw what everyone else saw on the TV,” said Paterson. “I thought I read the ref ’s lips on the screen, with him saying, ‘I’m going to award the try’.
“But Gregor said to us afterwards that we need to take games out of the referee’s hands and not leave it up to a decision like that.
“That’s what we need to look at – being more clinical and when in that area finishing with a try instead of taking a three. There was a lot of disappointment in the dressing room but Gregor said he was really proud of us that we came back at the end and were in a position to win it.”
Paterson can certainly take pride from his performance. His day may have started with panic but by the time he was lining up for the anthems, the Edinburgh wing was the coolest kid in Murrayfield.
There was not one hint of a tremble in Paterson’s fingers as he led the burst down the right wing that brought Scotland’s opening try.
Charging into contact, he kept his nerve and braced himself for impact with Gael Fickou, only then offloading to Huw Jones, whose similarly swift pop pass sent Ben White over the line.
Unfortunately there was no one there to stop Fickou when he cantered over half an hour in as Scotland made a mess of handling a French restart.
That try meant Scotland went in with just a three-point lead at the break but they were six up heading into the final eight minutes, seemingly in control.
But for all France are a team who seem to have lost some of their razzle dazzle without star man Antoine Dupont, they have plenty of threat - as proved when Paterson misjudged his positioning and turned to see Louis Bielle-Biarrey race onto the kick he’d just lobbed over his head to score what proved to be the winning touchdown.