'Voice of rugby' Bill McLaren dies

Commentator Bill McLaren, the man known as the "voice of rugby", has died at the age of 86.

McLaren died in the community hospital in his hometown of Hawick in the Scottish Borders.

He will be sorely missed by many fans who grew up watching rugby on television, absorbed by his lyrical Scottish voice and great knowledge of the game.

McLaren retired from broadcasting in 2002 and received an OBE, CBE and MBE for services to the sport. He began his career in commentary covering Scotland's defeat to Wales in 1952.

Throughout much of his television career McLaren also worked as a PE teacher and coached several players who went on to play for Scotland, including Jim Renwick, Colin Deans and Tony Stanger.

McLaren was a talented loose forward for Hawick 1st XV during his playing days and was invited to a Scotland trial in 1947.

But his playing career, and any chance of a Scotland cap, was cut short by a bout of tuberculosis which nearly killed him.

It was while convalescing in hospital that he had his first experience of radio reporting.

He was one of a number of long-serving BBC sport commentators, including cricket's John Arlott, horse racing's Peter O'Sullevan, golf's Peter Alliss and tennis's Dan Maskell.

Former Scotland and British and Irish Lions player and coach Sir Ian McGeechan said: For me growing up Bill was the voice of rugby alongside Cliff Morgan. You will never know how many people Bill brought to the game by the way he commentated.

He was an absolute gentleman, totally unbiased. He had the knack of always looking for the best in players and had a massive positive impact on us.

As a coach Bill would always come and watch the Friday session before a match. He never came empty-handed, there was always a Hawick Ball there and he was always positive in everything he said.

I don't think anyone could ever estimate just what his value has been to the game and what he has done. I remember seeing him after the 1990 Grand Slam game and he exuded pride.

But above all Bill didn't just have a massive impact because of rugby. It was also because of his knowledge and understanding of people.

Two of McLaren's grandchildren are professional players: Scotland and Gloucester scrum-half Rory Lawson and Edinburgh utility back Jim Thompson.