In 50 amazing minutes, Edinburgh ran Ulster in Affidea plastic. The ambition and accuracy, verve and pace, as well as the superb levels of fitness required to make it happen, have not been seen on this side for some time. Edinburgh scored belter after stunner, and although they almost succumbed to an Edinburgh-like capitulation late on, the win hopefully heralds a new dawn for a club that has stagnated for far too long.
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Watching Edinburgh these past few seasons has usually been as exciting as filling out a tax return. It raised your blood pressure, yes, but probably not your heart rate. In one glorious hour, formulaic, boisterous old fare melted under the Belfast spotlight.
The numbers were terrible. Edinburgh scored just one try from their 22 last season. They equaled that tally within 48 minutes of the start of the new campaign. They averaged 22 tackle-breaks per game and improved that figure by 10. Their conversion rate of 22 tackles was a paltry 30%. That more than doubled, with five attempts from eight visits for a 62% success rate.
At the heart of this transformation, a core of young Scots. Ten members of the team for the match were under the age of 22. From bash brothers Liam McConnell and Freddy Douglas in the back row to a boosted Malelili Satala on the wing and Euan McVie, whose late Jackal penalty snuffed out Ulster’s hopes of a monumental comeback. Orchestrating things from the base was Hector Patterson, a nuggety scrum-half who has so much to admire in his game. Patterson finished off a sumptuous team try to put Piers O’Connor through for another with a sweet side-step and kick-out cat flap at the end of a fluid move.
“It’s just gorgeous!” 🗣️
Hector Patterson catches @EdinburghRugbyThe third attempt of the evening and the best of all so far 🏰 pic.twitter.com/NdUXWrspFn
— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) September 25, 2026
Patterson is a great talent. Twenty-one-year-old and highly regarded at Scottish Rugby headquarters, he is ready for a breakthrough campaign. He made his home debut in Edinburgh Zebras Parma in April and scored a neat try. He had a blind against a Sharks side loaded with next week’s Springbok world champions. Edinburgh’s new game model shows it at its best; probing, running away, lighting an attack flame.
“The key word has been ‘fast’ in everything we do, ball in hand or breakdowns,” he says. “We went wide, scored and emphasized defense. It seems like the last few years when I look at it, we just went for the ‘eagle’ (competitive box) really early and didn’t test the defense. I hated that side of it. Now everyone at the club wants to play, it works.
“It was the fastest ruck ball we’ve had for a while, about 60% was under three seconds, which is what we’re aiming for and that’s linked to our fast attack. Speed of the ball was the main focus.
“I was struggling to keep up. Some of those sets – and against Harlequins in pre-season – it was some of the hardest aerobic rugby I’ve ever played, so you can imagine how the defense felt. I like the fact that I’m under that pressure. We’re putting pressure on teams when we need to, little front-foot shots into the corner and we’re getting good results.”
Sometimes I might exaggerate a bit. On Friday I could see myself letting my head down a bit. We were in the end zone in Ulster’s 22 and a couple of guys were slow around the corner and we ended up being pushed back into our own 22.
Patterson hails from the heart of the Scottish Borders, where halves of iron temper and football intelligence are forged. Born in Denholm, he played for the famous Hawick club which produced an astonishing number of internationals in both the women’s and men’s games. Patterson is cast in the same cursed but humble mold as those diminutive giants of the past: Roy Laidlaw, Gary Armstrong, Greig Oliver, Bryan Redpath, Greig Laidlaw and his own father, Derrick, whose career took him all over Europe in his early professional days. The lineage and heritage are not lost on Patterson.
“Dad helped me a lot when I was younger which I probably didn’t listen half the time. Now he’s not always as harsh but he was 100% honest and told me if something was good or bad. My mum always says I remind her of him when he played. We’re quite similar players in the way we’re built. Neither of us was very fast.”
“Past scrum-halves from Borders, Laidlaws, Gary Armstrong, those guys, it would be good to follow in their footsteps. I hear stories about Gary Armstrong. Maybe I can match him physically.”
At least in his mindset, Patterson is no different from those who spoke honestly. A scrum-half needs tight vocal cords as much as anything, and Patterson has never been one to mince his words.
“That’s always been a good side of my game and I probably learned a lot while playing down at Hawick,” he says. “I have quite a loud voice and those older boys always say they like to be talked to.
“Sometimes I might have gone a bit overboard. On Friday I could see myself letting my head down a bit. We were in the end zone in Ulster’s 22 and a couple of lads were slow around the corner and we ended up getting a ping back in our own 22. You can’t just call them ‘Fs’ and ‘Cs’, that’s probably going to be constructive. be more constructive instead of shouting to do things, but lads are good at that and they don’t like it.
In terms of his aspirations, Patterson is pragmatic and unadorned.
“People say they want to play for Lions and that, at the moment, I couldn’t care less about. I just want to play a lot for Edinburgh and what comes, comes. Obviously it would be great to be at the World Cup, but that’s still a year away. I have other things to worry about and sort out.”
If you’re good, you’re good and you’ll get picked up, but maybe those guys who are late bloomers might struggle and drop out because none of their friends are playing.”
The Borders are no longer the successful bedrock of Scottish rugby. The decline in player numbers is sad and symptomatic of the problems the global game has yet to address, even among its most passionate communities. Talent, however, endures.
“It’s a bit of a shame,” says Patterson. “Not many young lads want to play, as I see it. There used to be four teams in Hawick, a lot of lads at Jed-Forest, that’s all anyone wanted to do. Now nobody really wants to play. If you’re good, you’re good and they’ll pick you up, but maybe those lads who are late maybe struggling not to play.”
Hawick, the proud little town of Jim Renwick, Colin Deans, Bill McLaren and Tony Stanger, was where Patterson learned the game. He came of age in men’s rugby as an 18-year-old pup as the club raced to an unbeaten campaign in the top tier of domestic Scottish rugby. As his career blossomed, Patterson resisted his mother’s pleas to enroll in some sort of university course. He was never the most natural academic, and the end of that remarkable season at Hawick set an unfortunate example.
“I loved my time playing with Hawick. My first season when we won the Prem gave me some of my best memories. They still fight for me when I go there. We won the league that year and didn’t lose a game. I posted a photo on my Instagram story and I think I had a few drinks at the time. I was never a great reader or writer at school. ‘invisible’, so I was called invisible for a while and I’m still critical of that.
Patterson is barely noticeable these days. His maturation made sure of that. He attacked his shooting game and honed his decision-making savvy, first as a mainstay in the national under-20s and then with hours of ‘extras’ coached by former Edinburgh skills coach Bob Chrystie. Patterson talks about Chrystie’s summer departure as if he’s pining for an ex-girlfriend he hasn’t gotten over. “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone,” he laughs.
There’s steel in it, of course. He has the number nine jersey again when he is Stormers rumbles into town on Friday night, and will hold it for most of this first block. One of Edinburgh’s signings is a scrum-half; Louie Chapman of the mighty Crusaders with his Super Rugby CV and his Scottish qualification. Chapman will not arrive until November, after the NPC. Once he does, Patterson will be hard as hell to replace.
“It was a big thing for me in terms of the pre-season,” says Patterson. “I just told myself that I would fully focus on this because I knew I would get a chance at the beginning of the season.
“Whether it’s missing a birthday or not going out with my friends on a Saturday night… ah, I can do that when I’m free. Especially with my body, I definitely struggled with that last year, so I know what I need to do now to be fresh for Monday. It’s been a pretty tough pre-season in terms of running load and having a lot of problems to get through the week. I’m not afraid of missing weekends anymore. I’m happy with how I’ve come into the season and I’m ready to move on.
Nowhere breeds scrum-poles like the Scottish Borders. The latest taxi has left the rank.