Chris Paterson has praised his replacement at full-back

Paterson suffered the triple fracture on 4 June against Samoa but had to wait until it had sufficiently healed.

"It is horrible to be going home, but I have had a week or so to accept that this tour was over for me," he said.

"I am already pretty focused on getting home, having a good rest after a long season and then coming back fully fit."

Paterson required an operation to insert metal plates around his right eye-socket after picking up the injury during the victory over Samoa.

I thought Hugo was excellent Chris Paterson

He did not think his presence would have helped preparations for Saturday's second Test against Australia.

"I am probably better off out of the way, because the players are preparing for a Test match and I don't really have a role to play, so it is not ideal for them or for me," he said.

Paterson was forced to remain in Sydney last weekend, when the squad flew to Melbourne for the first Test against the Wallabies, in which they put up a credible performance before two late tries gave Australia a flattering 35-15 victory.

Hugo Southwell, Paterson's replacement, was composed in defence and made a series of crunching, try-saving tackles.

Paterson ruled out of tour

"I thought Hugo was excellent," said Paterson, Southwell's team-mate at Edinburgh. "But, to be honest, that was no great surprise to me.

"It was great for him to get his chance. It has increased the competition, but I have got to know him pretty well in the last season at Edinburgh and I knew the competition was there already.

"It's definitely a good thing for Scotland."