Early Career 1999–2003 Paterson earned his first cap for
Scotland against
Spain in the
1999 Rugby World Cup as a fullback. This was his only appearance during the 1999 World Cup. Scotland went on to reach the quarter finals before losing 30–18 to
New Zealand. In Paterson's next appearance during the
2000 Six Nations Championship game versus
France, Paterson scored his first points for Scotland converting two penalties and a conversion in the 16–28 loss. Later that year Paterson scored his first Scotland try during the 2000 tour of New Zealand during the 48–14 loss at
Eden Park,
Auckland. During the subsequent years Paterson became a fixture in the
Scotland team. His consistent performance for club and country earned him a place in Scotland's
2003 Rugby World Cup squad. During Scotland's opening
2003 Rugby World Cup game Paterson scored two tries and kicked a conversion and a penalty during a 32–11 win against
Japan. In the next game against the
United States Paterson scored 19 points, including a try, during a 39–15 win. Paterson played in the subsequent win and loss against
Fiji and
France to help Scotland qualify for the quarter final stage. In the
2003 Rugby World cup quarter-finals, Scotland lost 33–16 to
Australia at
Lang Park,
Brisbane. Paterson scored 71 points during the
2003 Rugby World Cup and was named the team's player of the tournament.
2003–2007 On 15 November 2004 during Scotland's record 100–8 win over
Japan game at
McDiarmid Park,
Perth he overtook
Andy Irvine to become Scotland's second highest points scorer, behind
Gavin Hastings. He scored 40 points (three tries, 11 conversions and one penalty). This remains a record points haul for a Scottish player in a test match. Two weeks later on 27 November 2004 against
South Africa he became the youngest, and lightest, Scottish player ever to earn 50 caps, aged 26, and weighing in at 78 kg. On 26 February 2005, Paterson equalled the scoring record set by
Gavin Hastings for one game of six penalties converted in the 18–13 win over
Italy. Paterson was the BBC's full-back of the
2005 Six Nations Championship. As a result of his incredibly reliable kicking and elusive running from full-back during the
2005 Six Nations Championship, especially in the
Calcutta Cup game, Paterson's omission from
Clive Woodward's squad for the
2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand surprised many critics and fans alike. This fueled criticism that Woodward relied too much upon his England team who had won the
2003 Rugby World Cup. Ultimately, Woodward's 2005 Lions were unsuccessful losing the test series 3–0. Paterson played as part of a resurgent Scotland team of the
2006 Six Nations Championship who recorded wins over
France,
England and
Italy to finish third in the table. This remains Scotland's best finish since the 5 Nations became the 6 Nations with the addition of Italy in 2000. Paterson was captain during the
2007 Six Nations Championship as
Jason White was injured. Paterson was picked in Scotland's
2007 Rugby World Cup squad. This his third World Cup campaign. Similarly, with the previous two in 1999 & 2003 Scotland exited in the quarter final stage losing 19–13 to
Argentina at the
Stade de France,
Saint-Denis. Paterson played in all five of
Scotland's games scoring 46 points. He deployed a flawless kicking performance on the final stage group game, a
decider against Italy (against whom they had suffered a home defeat at the
previous Six Nations): Paterson secured qualification by scoring all points of Scotland's narrow 18–16 victory, with an impeccable 6 out of 6 kicking performance.
Later career 2008–2011 On 9 February 2008, Paterson earned his 83rd cap for Scotland against
Wales, passing the record of
Gregor Townsend for a Scottish back. Scotland then went on to lose this match. Later that year on 14 June 2008 he won his 88th cap to break
Scott Murray's Scotland appearance record and was named man of the match in Scotland's 26–14 victory over
Argentina in
Buenos Aires. During the 2009 Autumn International against
Australia, Paterson scored winning points in Scotland's historic 9–8 win. This was Scotland's first win over Australia for 27 years. On 7 February 2010, Paterson won his 99th cap in Scotland's opening
2010 Six Nations Championship match against
France. On Saturday 13 February 2010 at the
Millennium Stadium in
Cardiff, Paterson became the first player to reach 100 caps for Scotland when he played in the defeat against
Wales. In the same game Paterson was seriously injured, suffering a split kidney which forced him to miss the rest of the season. In the same game
Rory Lamont suffered cruciate ligament damage which ended his season, and
Thom Evans suffered a potentially life-threatening neck injury in a collision with
Lee Byrne. This injury forced Evans to retire from rugby aged just 25. Later that year on Saturday 20 November 2010 Paterson gained his 101st cap in a 21–17 win against current world champions,
South Africa, at
Murrayfield coming on for the final 8 minutes. Along with
Nikki Walker and
Nathan Hines, he was one of three players in that match who had also been in the Scotland team that beat South Africa in 2002. During the
2011 Six Nations Championship Paterson was the 23rd man in the squad when he travelled to
Paris but played no part. Following Scotland's poor defeat to
Wales in the second game of the tournament, Paterson was recalled to the starting 15 for the
Ireland,
England and
Italy games. In addition to scoring 31 points with the boot in these three matches he justified his inclusion with an impressive try-saving tackle on
Ben Foden, when the England Fullback seemed certain to score. This helped to keep Scotland in with a chance of winning the game until the last few minutes, although they eventually lost 22–16. The following week he made an almost identical try-saving tackle against
Luke McLean during Scotland's 21–8 victory over
Italy. In the latter match, Paterson also became only the fifth player to score more than 400 points in the history of the
Five/Six Nations Tournament. Testament to Paterson's committed performances during the
2011 Six Nations Championship he featured in several rugby journalists 'Team of the Championship' On 22 August 2011 Paterson was selected in
Scotland's
2011 Rugby World Cup squad meaning this would be in fourth
Rugby World Cup. Paterson scored 14 points in Scotland's opening game of the
2011 Rugby World Cup in the 34–24 victory over
Romania In Scotland's second pool game of the
2011 Rugby World Cup during the 15–6 victory over
Georgia Paterson made a substitute appearance in the 70th minute his 13th World Cup appearance one short of Doddie Weir's record of 14 World Cup appearances. In Scotland's third pool game in the 13–12 defeat against
Argentina Paterson equalled Doddie Weir's record of 14 appearances scoring a penalty. In what transpired to be Chris Paterson's 109th and final appearance in the ultimate game of Pool B against
England in Auckland, Scotland required victory to progress to the quarter-final stage. The game finished 16–12 in England's favour with
Chris Ashton scoring a last minute try to knock Scotland out at the pool stage for the first time. In this game he set a record for the most Scotland World Cup appearances with 15 and furthered his own Scotland point's scoring record to 809. Paterson announced his retirement from international rugby in December 2011; at the time, he held many of the most significant Scottish career records. His 109 caps was more than 20 clear of then-second-placed
Scott Murray; his 96 starts are also the most in Scotland history. He remained Scotland's most-capped player until
Ross Ford overtook him in 2017. Paterson was also involved in more defeats (65) than any other Scotland internationalist. Despite not being a regular kicker until after he had amassed 26 caps, he retired as Scotland's all-time leader in points (809), conversions (86) and penalties (140). Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of his Scotland career was his versatility; he retired as one of Scotland's three top cap-winners at two different positions. Paterson's 49 caps on the wing were third to
Kenny Logan (63) and
Sean Lamont (52); his 43 caps as a fullback were also third, this time to
Gavin Hastings (61) and
Andy Irvine (47). In addition, he has the most caps of any player from the Home Unions (
England,
Ireland,
Scotland,
Wales) who did not appear in a Test with the
British & Irish Lions.
Coaching and rugby ambassador 2012 onwards In May 2012 it was announced that Paterson would take on the dual role of specialist coach and ambassador with the
Scottish Rugby Union. ==Kicking Accuracy==