Chris Paterson to get a new role – Rugby News Update
Chris Paterson, the Scottish wing and fullback is set to get a new position by the Scottish Rugby Union after he announced his retirement from rugby at the end of the current season.
Paterson is a legend of Scottish rugby, being the most capped player (109) and also holds the record for having scored the most points (809) for Scotland. However, his new position post retirement will include coaching and ambassadorial responsibilities.
It will be a different challenge for the Paterson, who does not have much experience coaching but does have the ability to mentor young players, and he has done so successfully in the past. He is mindful of his new role.
"The first really obvious thing would be what it's like to approach games as a coach and not a player," Paterson said. "I'm interested in learning about planning, long-term and short-term and how flexible the long term plans are depending on how the season
differs to what you'd planned for.”
Paterson hit a purple patch for ten months between the year 2007 till 2008, converting 36 consecutive goals for Scotland, which included not missing a single kick during the 2007 Rugby World Cup, along with the 2008 Six Nations tournament.
After his retirement he will join up the New Zealand based team, the Crusaders, to learn their style of coaching before he comes back to work with Duncan Hodge, who is the Scottish full-time kicking coach.
The ambit of his role is yet to be defined, however early indications by Graham Lowe, Scottish Rugby's high performance director, is that Paterson will work in the capacity of bring through future talent.
He said, "We know from, for example, speaking to young players within the Edinburgh set-up the extent of the influence that Chris has and his ability to articulate the knowledge and skills he has acquired throughout his career is already evident.”
It will be a new role for the legend of Scottish rugby, who through his Winning Scotland Foundation initiative has been able to nurture players, and the SRU wants to take his opportunity to help rugby progress in the country.
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