...in the streets of Hawick tonight."

....who had names that were designed to roll off the tongue of Bill Maclaren:

Doddie Weir
Stack Stevens
Fran Cotton
Dusty Hare
John Dawse
Willie John McBride
Andy Ripley

Anyone for tea and toast?

More than any other sport, except perhaps David Coleman in the 100 metres, any commentator just isn't the same.

His love of the game shone bright, and he was the master of understatement - "a little bit of argy-bargy at the lineout" as 6'9" Doddie Weir lands a haymaker that would fell a buffalo...

He was the voice of rugby to me.

One of the great voices of sports commentary.

I interviewed him once about ten years ago and he was an absolute gent, straight as a die and very much the wry school master. He refused to even entertain the magazine's ludicrous idea of photographing him with a haggis on his head, which even in my younger, stupider days I recognised as the mark of a man with genuine pedigree. 'Now, now' is all he said when the photographer suggested it. 'Now, now...' And that was the end of that. A fine fellow.

Didn't seem to have an ounce of malice in him and was also completely impartial when commentating on Scotland (like in the great clip above).

All Blacks vs Barbarians, 1973: McLaren should have been commentating, but had flu and the job went to Cliff Morgan.

Really sorry to hear about Bill McLaren. He used his wonderful voice to complement thrilling games and his humour to enliven dull matches. Off screen he seemed to be a warm and modest man.

This try and commentary still give me goosebumps

(Dai beat me!)

... sports commentators like that any more.

R.I.P.

I'm not much of a rugby fan, so my favourite rugby memory is one of Bill McLaren's commentaries. A player who was out of position was having boots visciously raked down the back of his shirt at the foot of a scrum, and McLaren drawled, 'Well, he's taking a bit of a studding, and quite rightly because he shouldn't really be there.'

They haven't got commentary on the clip I was looking for (Ieuan Evans 1988 vs Scotland) but McLaren's words will always get an airing from me and my friends when 6 nations comes round:
"Jink, jink, jink - Merlin the Magician couldn't have done it any better..."

Thanks Bill.

well known not because of any gimmicks, but purely because he was so good at his job. As someone posted above he had his pet phrases about "raising a glass in the Melrose clubhouse" when someone pottered on the pitch for an international debut, but he was also very good at simply describing the action.
As for his impartiality, I seem to remember him commentating on a Scotland/England Grand Slam decider (Carling and Sole being the respective captains) and Bill being not anymore excited when Tony Stanger scored the Scotland try then when England scored. Pretty sure Tony Stanger was not only from Bill's home town Hawick but one of his former pupils.
Similar reaction when his son-in-law Allan Lawson scored a brace of tries against England in the 70's.
Sheer class.

growing up in the valleys I always expected Wales to win and Bill to be doing the commentary when they did so.
I'll always remember seeing a banner at the Arms Park with the legend "Bill McLaren is Welsh". Says it all I guess.

The Voice of Rugby Union. A Sad loss.

to post this. Wales v England... Wembley 1999. The Arms Park was gone. The Millenium Stadium was under construction. So we chose to play at Wembley.
Bill's edge of your seat commentary combined with the heroics of Scott Gibbs and Neil (Das Boot) Jenkins made for one of the great games of rugby.
First half here....

Brian Moore
David Coleman
Ron Pickering
Eddie Waring
Harry Carpenter
Jim Laker
John Arlott
Brian Johnston

and another little piece of my childhood goes with him.

Used to entertain us with his impressions of people on the telly. Nearly 40 years on, I can still remember his classic Bill McLaren, which simply consisted of him saying "half-held, hounded by McEwan" in that lovely Scottish burr. I don't know if there ever was a McEwan or not, but still gives me the goosebumps just thinking of it. What a brilliant commentator he was.

THE death of the great Bill McLaren reminds us of when Kenny Logan told us Bill gave him the local confectionery, a Hawick Ball, before an international, and told him it would make him run faster. Kenny joked he had given Hawick Balls to so many players that he wouldn’t be any faster than the rest of them. “Aye,” replied Bill, “but I never gave any to the English.”

for the Wales vs. Scotland game that was the great man's last commentary. The crowd gave him a standing ovation and sang for him. RIP.