In the past Hadden has been reluctant to heed to repeated calls for the slightly built 28-year-old to be moved inside from his usual starting berth on the Scottish wing, and it was a similar story during the four years he coached Paterson at club level with Edinburgh.

However, in recent months it has become apparent that Hadden has warmed to the idea that Paterson could fill the role of playmaker.

During this seasons RBS 6 Nations Championship Paterson was moved into the fly-half position in every one of Scotlands five matches - although only as a second-half replacement for Dan Parks or Phil Godman, who started those games.

Now it seems that Hadden is ready to make the next step by handing Paterson the number 10 jersey from the first whistle.

Hadden said: One of the things that we thought was a big success throughout the Six Nations was Mossie [Paterson] coming on at 10.

Was he ready to start at 10 at the start of the tournament? Probably not. Is he ready to start at 10 now? Probably.

He looked a bit shaky when he moved there against England in our first game because he was very nervous  but he has improved. I thought his cameo there at the weekend (against France) was his best performance at stand-off by a considerable margin.

He is now 28 going on 29, and he has a level of experience and understanding that he hasnt had in the past, which actually makes him better equipped now to deal with the situation.

Despite his enthusiasm for the potential switch, Hadden went on to warn that Patersons move might not be completely seamless.

Dont raise your level of expectation of how fantastic Chris is likely to be at stand-off and the difference its going to make to Scotland.

In the past he has come in and played at stand-off and by no means played flawlessly, and people have always found reasons to search for and employ another stand-off.

But I think his experience now is different to his experience then, he said.

If he was to play there then there would be a massive amount for him to work on over the summer, but in terms of his game management, game awareness and communication skills, I would expect them to be more mature now.