Scotland is continuing to develop top rugby stars of the future despite the struggles of the national under-20s team, according to the national team’s all-time leading points scorer Chris Paterson.
Scotland’s struggles at the most senior age-grade level were again highlighted during the Six Nations, with Kenny Murray’s side finishing bottom of the table and without a win.
The under-20s also suffered whitewashes in 2021 and 2022, with their only victory last year a single-point success against Wales.
They were also relegated to the World Rugby Under 20 Trophy, the second tier competition, where they will face Hong Kong, Japan and Samoa in Edinburgh over the summer.
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While Paterson admits the results have been disappointing, he believes there are enough young players coming through the ranks of both Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors to be optimistic about the future.
He said: "I think back to my time, and we always produced players who played international rugby and I still think we are doing that.
“There’s a lot of players who’ve played for the under-20s in the past two or three years coming into the professional set-up and the international set-up.”
He name-checked Scotland co-captain Rory Darge as an example, alongside Harry Paterson, who made his international debut against France in the Six Nations.
Paterson believes there are individuals in the current U20 crop who can make the step up.
“I could see four or five players there who could play international rugby in the next two or three years,” he said as he previewed the weekend’s BKT United Rugby Championship action alongside former Springboks captain John Smit on Wednesday morning.
“Where we haven’t been successful is winning – dropping into the Junior World Trophy was disappointing.
“In terms of individual player development, I think we’re still producing players pretty well, I think the criticism is you’d want to produce more of them.”
Paterson believes the creation of Edinburgh and Glasgow ‘A’ teams – part of Scottish Rugby’s new player development pathway following the scrapping of Super Series – will help young players.
“You want to prepare young players physically for the exertions of professional rugby, which is different now than it was before,” the 109-times capped former Scotland captain added.
“I’m a big believer that playing games makes you better – it puts your decision making under pressure – but you’ve got to be physically prepared in terms of your conditioning, but also in terms of your skill development.”
Paterson said the idea of an ‘A’ league might ensure those matches are played in a competitive environment.
This presents huge challenges – not least in the logistics of finding the right opportunities in an already packed calendar to play the games.
The British and Irish Cup, which ran from 2009 to 2018, saw Scottish club sides compete against teams from the second tier of the English game, as well as the Irish and Welsh domestic leagues.
That had its logistical challenges, and with the URC also comprising teams in South Africa and Italy, those challenges would be multiplied if any ‘A’ league was to be reprised.
Paterson, who still works for Scottish Rugby alongside punditry work for Viaplay – soon to rebrand to Premier Sports - said playing meaningful matches is vital for young players.
He praised the work done by Sean Everitt, the Edinburgh head coach, and Glasgow’s Franco Smith, at blooding young players in the URC this season.
Paterson said: “Getting an opportunity to play in the URC is really important. Franco and Sean have both done that really well.
“What’s also important is you don’t put four or five in together at one time in a URC game. An important part of the lesson is playing alongside experienced players.
"Could you develop something where there has to be a young player within a matchday 23? It’s a fine balance.
“If that young player is not ready, how does he get ready? He needs exposure. You’ve then got the person who is ready knocking on the coaches’ door and saying ‘I need to play’.
"Including young players in URC fixtures is really important.”
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