To Bill McLaren – “Wha’s Like us, Damn few….and they’re all deid!” (Old Scottish Warrior Toast)

However, the tribute piece by Andrew Logan is not only the best I have read in terms of Bill McLaren, but quite possibly the best piece of writing I have ever read.

From “half the world away” as he puts it, Andrew has summed up the feelings of so many here and, of course across the country and beyond and should be congratulated on a fine article.

Funny to watch the Stanger try in the 1990 Grand Slam, Triple Crown, Calcutta Cup decider at Murrayfield with Bill’s commentary. Going to a Scottish rugby school in 1992 that try was still very much talked about. One of the lads swore that if you listened very closely you could hear Bill say, as Stanger, also from Hawick I believe, scored the try, say,”Fuck. It’s a try”.

Since then I’ve read a reasonable explanation for what he said, without swearing, the details of which I’ve now forgotten, but, nevertheless, it always brings a smile to my face.

Try listening to his commentary on that move up the right hand side of the field and listen for the unBBC-like moment.

His body of work, let alone his gentle passion for the game, deserves recognition by all who watch, play and, particularly, commentate on the game.

Thanks for your positive feedback though, it is much appreciated.

McLaren’s all-time XV had plenty of interesting choices… or should I say all-time XXII.

As his reserves he selected Michael Lynagh as a replacement flyhalf. I love Lynagh and think he’s always been underappreciated in Australia because he seldom showed much flair on the field, but is he really a contender in an all-time side? At fullback on his reserves bench he has Matt Burke – a great player no doubt, but does history remember him as fondly as Blanco or JPR Williams? I could be wrong, but I think he also had Jason Leonard on his bench… actually that’s pretty common for a lot of people, but was Leonard ever the world’s no 1 prop? And if I recall corectly, he selected Nick Farr-Jones as his replacement halfback! I love Farr-Jones but surely the likes of Catchpole, Going, Loveridge etc should be considered ahead of him.

They were all great players no doubt, but interesting selections for an all-time side. Then again, who am I to doubt BILL MCLAREN? I’ll only criticise him for the Rob Andrew selection…

Some sort of Australian neologism ??? Sounds like a knee complaint.

You’re right, however: Mr McLaren was very pro-Scottish without being anti-English. He is the only man in history to have achieved this.

Indeed he did make such comments and they do bring a smile to the face, or at least to the mind’s eye. But that was not the sum total of his talent and to pretend that they were is patronising and dismissive, a bit like saying that all there was to Marilyn Monroe was a great pair of hooters.

McLaren’s commentaries on great pieces of play were magnificent accompaniments, like the backing track in a classic rock song, they enhanced the performance and helped to make it memorable. Imagine how insipid would be an a capella version of Satisfaction or Smoke on the Water! Then think how much better some of the tries McLaren called looked and sounded on TV thanks to his efforts.

He could pace his commentary on a great piece of play, saying the right things at the right time and with the right amount of excitement to make the moment a magical piece of television. Various posters have given some of their favourite examples above. There are many many more.

It’s that ability that a commentator aspiring to be half as good as McLaren should try to mimic. Sadly, I fear we may have to endure a generation of flat-voiced charlatans who think that all they have to do is liken a prop forward to a “wee runaway Galloway bull” or say “there’ll be dancing in the streets of Cronulla tonight” to have some of his magic rub off on them.

It won’t lads, so don’t even try.

I grew up in England and it was BM’s voice that gave me the mystic and respect for the Welsh Scots French and Irish as coming from a football background the 5 nations became a totally exotic meal of addiction.

When the All Blacks and the Wallabies toured his knowledge and respect for the players and their countries just opened up a new world to me, indeed it was the ’84 tour that made my mind up I was to live in Aus…….. all supported through the story via TV and passion

Vale Bill McLaren

He was with the BBC in Radio and TV for over 40 years, when ITV won the rights to the RWC he was asked by ITV to move over. He refused and stayed with the BBC and did radio commentary which people listened to while watching the TV on mute.

In 1987 during the first RWC according to Ian Robertson the BBC rugby commentator, there was a poll in NZ to see who would commentate on the final. BM’s reaction was that he would get less than 10% of the vote, as it turned out he got 97% of the vote.

In his latter years there was an increasing campaign for him to be given a knighthood, he had received the MBE, OBE and the CBE in ascending order. It was very close and it is a pity that accolade was never awarded to a man who transcended rugby and represented a moral standard of fair play and equality, that is difficult to match in todays frenetic environment.

Truly a giant of a man and commentator the like of which we will not hear again.

“Every time Gould kicks the ball it’s like the one o’clock gun going off at Edinburgh Castle.” – Bill McLaren

Bill McLaren is the greatest rugby union commentator there’s ever been. Personally I prefer to hear commentators you know are in love with the sport they are talking about, as opposed to someone saying what the teams should be doing or how bad the referee is. You can’t watch one game of rugby these days without the refs performance being overanalyzed. Bill McLaren always seemed happy when he was watching rugby and I loved that. Secondly, he was always unbiased – even when Scotland were playing.

McLaren was also a fan of Australia. David Campese was his all-time favourite player. I like the story of how he asked Bob Dwyer one time how he’d go about coaching such a talent, and Bob Dwyer said, “Bill I make sure to never interfere with bloody genius.” Campese on the field and McLaren on the microphone went together like prime rib steak and JR’s BBQ sauce. McLaren also rated the 1984 Wallabies as the best touring side to Britain he’s ever seen – high praise considering that’s going back to the Springboks of the early 50s.

My favourite McLaren call was probably the try Gareth Edwards scored in 1972 against Scotland. You know the one where Edwards made a sniping run down the blindside, chipped the ball ahead, caught up to it and dove face-first into the mud.

“Its beautiful laid back for Gareth Edwards, Edwards over the 25 yard line, over half way, the kick ahead by Edwards, can he get there, it would be a miracle if he could. He may well get there… And he has!!! The sheer magic of Gareth Edwards has brought the whole of this stadium to its feet. You can see on his face, the power, the strength, the fitness that took him there”.

Well done