Edinburgh Rugby's 'small man with a lot to say' catches the eye of teammates

Patterson, 21, wasn’t slow in coming forward and made sure he was heard during the 31-30 win over Zebre which was as close as the scoreline suggests.

This has been a far from vintage season for Edinburgh but the hope is that they can use their final matches in the United Rugby Championship to embed some young talent into their team so they are ready for the next campaign.

Patterson certainly falls into that category and the former Scotland Under-20 international made a big impression on his team-mates.

“I thought Hector Patterson had an outstanding first cap for the club,” said O’Conor, whose clever grubber helped the scrum-half mark his first competitive Edinburgh appearance with a try. “He’s been pretty excited all week. When he gets his hands on the ball he absolutely loves the game.”

He also stepped up in terms of leadership, an important facet of any nine’s game.

“I thought he controlled the forwards really, really well,” added O’Conor. “For a small man he’s got a lot to say - he’s good at marshalling the team around. So he can be incredibly proud of his first performance, and it’s great to put another academy boy, another Scotland lad, through the ranks. So yeah, a great first game for him.”

Edinburgh have three games left, starting with Friday’s home match against the Sharks followed by Dragons away and Connacht at home in May. And while the play-offs are out of reach, O’Conor is looking for a strong finish after such a disappointing year. Season ticket renewals could depend on it.

“It's been a difficult campaign for us, I think, so getting a win, especially at home in front of the fans - I think we owe it to them to get some wins in these next four games. That’s one of the four ticked off,” said O’Conor.

We’ve got Sharks and Connacht to go [at home]. So like I said we owe it to our fans to put on a performance and encourage our fans to come back next year and cheer us on. If we can finish on a high, I think that will be great.”