Hadden acclaims good Godman

The omission of record points-scorer Paterson was the biggest surprise as Hadden announced his team for Sunday's crunch clash at Murrayfield.

Revealing he and his fellow selectors thought "long and hard" about leaving out Paterson, the head coach said: "The stats this year tell us that Chris Paterson is the best goalkicker in the northern hemisphere currently on 86% but that Phil Godman's number five on 79%."

The Edinburgh full-back is widely regarded as one of the best goalkickers in the world and has been his country's talisman for the past six years. But having played less than two full matches since recovering from a rib injury, he has found himself on the bench.

Hadden was at pains to point to statistics which show Godman's conversion rate in all matches this season is virtually identical to that of Paterson, though he was less sure of the 26-year-old's Test percentage.

He contineud: "Phil was at 86% until a week or so ago when he started having hamstring trouble. They were number one and two all season until then."

"Phil's international percentage is excellent. I couldn't quote you it but I'll find it for you.

"He has a very good track record at international level."

Hadden was also unconcerned about Godman's recent hamstring niggle, adding: "We consider that he's the right man to do the job and we have every confidence in his ability to do what we expect of him."

Paterson, who is also Scotland's most capped player, will provide cover on the bench for both Godman and Hugo Southwell, who starts at full-back.