Scotland lack the edge

Chris Paterson's boot could decide Scotland's quarter-final

Chris Paterson's boot could decide Scotland's quarter-final

Veteran Scotland utility-back Chris Paterson admitted on Tuesday that his team had not been entirely convincing in the World Cup despite qualifying for the quarter-finals.

Paterson told reporters that although his team had won three of its four Pool C fixtures, it wouldn't pose a big enough threat to the Pumas when the teams meet at the Stade de France.

"We have won games - but we haven't found our edge yet," Paterson told the BBC.

The utility-back said his team were definitely the underdogs for Sunday's quarter-final, but didn't necessarily view it as being negative.

"We are underdogs, with all the expectation on our opponents [Argentina] and we hope we can relax and play some better rugby," he added.

He said that not being expected to win took a lot of pressure off his Scottish team-mates, which he added could only be a good thing.

"We now go into the quarter-finals with nothing to lose," the utility-back said.

Had it not been for Paterson's heroics, Scotland could very well have crashed out of the World Cup along with their Welsh neighbours, who lost to Fiji on the same day Scotland scraped a victory over Italy.

Paterson scored all the points in his team's dangerously close 18-16 victory over the Azzuri last Saturday and is expected to play an equally influential role with the boot this Sunday.