Harry Paterson was called into the starting line-up late but showed his quality early on
Making your debut at home in the Six Nations is something that most rugby players dream of, but they normally get a bit of notice. For young Harry Paterson, the impending arrival of Kyle Steyn’s child meant he was drafted into the side at the last minute. However, that did not stop him helping to create a brilliant first try v France.
Paterson started at full-back with Kyle Rowe shifting to the wing in Steyn’s absence and the 22-year-old looked assured from the off in his first cap at Scottish Gas Murrayfield.
Read more: Ten things you should know about Scotland full-back Harry Paterson
Watch Scotland first try v France
What a try to get Scotland off the mark! 🏉 👏#SCOFRA #SixNations pic.twitter.com/B9X0afKNaW
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) February 10, 2024
In the seventh minute, captain Finn Russell took the ball threateningly to the French defensive line before pulling it back for inside-centre Sione Tuipolutu who in turn found wing Duhan van der Merwe out the back.
Van der Merwe, who scored two tries in last week’s nail-biting 27-26 win in Wales, executed a quick draw-and-give to suck in returning les Bleus wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey and find Paterson in space in the outside channel.
The Edinburgh new boy caught the ball just before the ten-metre line and made it inside the 22 before being felled by Shaun Edwards’s defensive captain Gaël Fickou, but crucially not before he hurled an offload inside to Huw Jones.
Related: Scotland Six Nations squad
Jones, under great pressure, passed it on inside at speed to scrum-half Ben White who juggled before securing the ball and sliding over despite the best efforts of Jonathan Danty and Bielle-Biarrey.
That put Scotland 7-0 up inside ten minutes, as Russell continued his good kicking form from that first win in Cardiff in 22 years, adding the extras.
France hit back though and Fickou’s try meant that Scotland only went in with a 13-10 lead at half-time. The visitors also had to deal with tighthead prop Uini Atonio being sent to the sin-bin for a no-arms tackle close to the ruck on Matt Fagerson.
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