Great man, voice of Rugby Union has died aged 86
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/8468319.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/8468319.stm
-
-
Bill McLaren
Pace like an electric eel (Simon Geoghegan, I think), a rampaging buffalo, leaping like a salmon up a burn... The voice of rugby indeed, and the one I grew up with. Sad news. -
Bill McLaren
RIP. I'm not much of a rugby fan, but two classics stand out.
"I think there's some hanky-panky going on in the ruck, but I don't think the referee has seen it".
And I seem to recall Victor Ubogu (i'm pretty sure it was him) having to change his shorts and as his backside faced the camera Bill commented, "a perfect rear view".
Legend.Comment
-
Bill McLaren
"John Jeffery, a veritable lighthouse of sinew."Comment
-
Bill McLaren
Rugby sucks, but this guy completely rocked.Comment
-
Bill McLaren
That's terrible news. The greatest, most evocative voice in sport and a huge part of my enjoyment of decades of rugby.Comment
-
Bill McLaren
Best sporting commentator I ever heard.Comment
-
Bill McLaren
diggedy derek wrote:
I second that. With the Six Nations round the corner I imagine they'll afford him some kind of tribute, it's the least he deserves.Rugby sucks, but this guy completely rocked.
RIP...Comment
-
Bill McLaren
"A perambulating lighthouse"
"Ooohhh, that one's got snow on it!"
Brilliant, brilliant man. Rugby won't be the same.Comment
-
Bill McLaren
Like Peter O'Sullevan really (who is still alive, aged 91), great voice, long serving, knowledge derived from practical involvement in his sport, and genuine enthusiasm for the game- not the Sky TV "what would this mean to Roman Abramovich?" enthusiasm.Comment
-
Bill McLaren
The voice of rugby indeed, and the one I grew up with
That.
What really used to impress me was that one week after commentating on a Wales-England six nations game in front of 60,000 people at the Arms Park, you'd hear him on Sportscene, phoning in his match report of Kelso vs Stewart's Melville FP (crowd: 200ish) and sounding just as enthusiastic.
And even though it's eight years since the great man retired, watching rugby without him commentating still feels wrong. I suspect it always will.
RIP Bill Mac.Comment
-
Bill McLaren
Simon Barnes in the Times refers to him as "one of the last of sport's great tribe of apostles". I have no idea what this means.Comment
-
Bill McLaren
Apostle as in someone who spreads the word and is a great advocate for their sport ? I get that.Comment
-
Bill McLaren
Yeah, without reading the article I can guess who else he might be thinking of too. John Arlott for cricket, maybe David Coleman for athletics, Harry Carpenter for boxing.
But are there really no people doing that job now?
Bill McLaren was one of the few things I liked about Rugby.Comment
-
Bill McLaren
Peter Alliss? He talks much more to people who already have something to do with golf- mentioning old fellas from a course in Hampshire who haven't been to well lately. That's the most ridiculed part of his commentary but it's actually the best- the idea that the players on the TV and everyone else plays the same game. But a good populariser as well.
I can already hear a silly ageism row when he retires.Comment
-
Bill McLaren
Etienne wrote:
Always slightly preferred Reg myself, though they were both great. I'm too young to have heard Henry Longhurst (i've heard clips of him), my Dad says he was fantastic.Yeah, without reading the article I can guess who else he might be thinking of too. John Arlott for cricket, maybe David Coleman for athletics, Harry Carpenter for boxing.
.
I can't remember where I read it but the merits of League and Union (I like both but prefer League) were being discussed, the subject came around to commentators and it was said "Union had the thoroughbred (Bill Mac) and League had the cart horse! (Eddie Waring)Comment
-
Bill McLaren
Shouldn't this thread be called..'There'll be no dancing in the streets of Hawick tonight'?Comment
Comment