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EDINBURGH - His nickname was inspired by a cartoon character - but there is nothing manufactured about the rugby talents and skills of Chris Paterson.
The versatile back has been the mainstay of the Scotland squad since he made his international debut against Spain at Murrayfield in the
2001 World Cup and is on course to become his country's most-capped player.
Ever since he was a primary school pupil in the Scottish rugby heartland of the Borders, Paterson has been known to friends and rivals alike as "Mossy."
"It all came about because of my childhood obsession with a TV cartoon character called Moss Chops. He was a lumbering and accident-prone dinosaur and he was my hero," revealed Paterson.
He may have been labelled after a clumsy and slow-thinking pre-historic monster, but that description bears no resemblance to his ability and presence on a rugby pitch.
In many ways, tee-total Paterson is a young man plucked from the Corinthian era.
Paterson, nephew of former Scotland scrum-half Duncan Paterson, first grabbed the limelight with his sparkling performances for Galashiels Academy.
He quickly graduated to the local senior side Gala before making the step up to the big stage by joining Edinburgh.
It wasn't long before he was knocking hard on the door of the Scotland selectors and since his maiden appearance in the rout of the Spaniards he has never looked back.
Paterson has been a victim of his own versatility. He began his career at fly-half but was then shifted to the back-three, alternating between the wing and full-back for both club and country.
His nomadic existence appeared to have counted against him most notably when he was left out of the Lions party to tour New Zealand two years ago.
Paterson shrugged off the disappointment.
While others were ranting and raving, he merely countered: "Life is full of disappointments, but there are always positives around the corner. I will just have to play a bit better next time."
His other low point came when he was picked as captain in the early stages of the ill-fated reign of controversial Australian coach Matt Williams.
It was clear from day one that Paterson, who has 75 caps, was not comfortable as a player under the stewardship of Williams, let alone as a skipper on the Test stage.
Paterson's second stint in charge came during last season's Six Nations campaign and it turned out to be a thoroughly more enjoyable and rewarding experience - for him and the team.
In the build up to the World Cup, Paterson's career seems to have come full circle with Scotland coach Frank Hadden restoring him to the pivotal No10 slot.
Last season Paterson passed the 500 points mark for Scotland when he kicked two conversions and two penalties in the Calcutta Cup loss to England at Twickenham.
He followed up by kicking seven out of seven penalties and then added his 21st try in the loss to Italy.
His impeccable goal-kicking was a key factor in Scotland's 2006 Calcutta Cup victory over England as he landed five penalties from five attempts. His ratio for the championship was 17 successes out of 19 attempts.
Paterson became the 19th Scot to reach the landmark of 50 caps when he faced South Africa at Murrayfield in 2004.
That year he also became the second highest scoring Scot in a single match with 40 points against Japan at McDiarmid Park.
That feat elevated Paterson into second place behind Gavin Hastings as Scotland's highest points scorer, surpassing Andy Irvine's total of 273.
He made a double try scoring start to Scotland's 2003 World Cup campaign against Japan and crossed the line again in the next game against the USA.
He continued to take Scotland's kicks throughout the tournament and became the major play-maker when he was fielded at stand-off for the matches against Fiji and Australia.
His 10th Test try on Scotland's 2003 tour of South Africa was honoured by the IRB as try of the year.
- AFP
