William Pollock McLaren (16 October 1923 – 19 January 2010) was a Scottish

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

commentator, teacher, journalist and one time rugby player. Known as "the voice of rugby", he retired from commentating in 2002. Renowned throughout the sport, his enthusiasm and memorable turn of phrase endeared him to many.

Early life

McLaren was born in

Hawick Hawick ( ; ; ) is a town in the Scottish Borders council areas of Scotland, council area and counties of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east o ...

Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh () is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the northwest, and Berwickshire to the north. T ...

, in 1923, to a knitwear salesman from

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; ) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault (HBF), often considered the boundary between the lowlands of Central Scotland and the Highlands.Tom Weir. ''The Scottish Lochs''. pp. 33-43. Published by ...

-side who had moved down to the area. As a young boy, he was steeped in local rugby stories: In his teenage years, McLaren grew up to be a useful flank forward.Bill McLaren: the voice of Rugby Union

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...

, 24 January 2002. He would later play for

Hawick RFC Hawick Rugby Football Club is an semi-pro rugby union side, currently playing in the Scottish Premiership and Border League. The club was founded in 1885 and are based at Mansfield Park at Hawick in the Scottish Borders. Splinter from Hawick and ...

. He served with the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in Italy during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, including the

Battle of Monte Cassino The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome, was a series of four military assaults by the Allies of World War II, Allies against Nazi Germany, German forces in Kingdom of Italy, Italy during the Italian Campaign (World War ...

. He was used as a forward spotter, and on one occasion was confronted by a mound of 1,500 corpses in an Italian churchyard, an unpleasant experience which never left him. He played in a

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

trial in 1947 and was on the verge of a full international cap before contracting

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. The disease nearly killed him and forced him to give up playing. He spent 19 months in a

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, is a historic name for a specialised hospital for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments, and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often in a health ...

East Fortune East Fortune is a village in East Lothian, Scotland, located 2 miles (3 km) north west of East Linton. The area is known for its airfield which was constructed in 1915 to help protect Britain from attack by German Zeppelin airships during t ...

East Lothian East Lothian (; ; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In ...

, where he was given the experimental antibiotic

streptomycin Streptomycin is an antibiotic medication used to treat a number of bacterial infections, including tuberculosis, Mycobacterium avium complex, ''Mycobacterium avium'' complex, endocarditis, brucellosis, Burkholderia infection, ''Burkholderia'' i ...

, which saved his life; of the five patients given the drug, only two survived. While in the hospital, he began his broadcasting career, by commenting on table tennis games on the hospital radio.

Career

McLaren studied

Physical Education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

in Aberdeen, and went on to teach PE in different schools throughout Scotland right through to 1987. He coached several Hawick youngsters who went on to play for

, including

Jim Renwick Jim Renwick (born 12 February 1952) is a former Scotland international rugby union player. He played at Centre (rugby union), Centre.Bath, p154 Rugby Union career Amateur career He played for Hawick Harlequins RFC, Hawick Harlequins and the ...

, Colin Deans and

Tony Stanger Anthony George Stanger (born 14 May 1968) is a Scottish former international rugby union player. With 24 international tries, he was Scotland's joint record try scorer, along with Ian Smith, until that record was broken by Stuart Hogg in Nove ...

. McLaren's journalistic career started as a junior reporter with the ''Hawick Express''. In 1953, he made his national debut for

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

, covering

's 12–0 loss to

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. He switched to television commentary six years later. McLaren was one of many post-war commentators who progressed from commentating on

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

during the infancy of television broadcasting in the UK. These included

Murray Walker Graeme Murray Walker (10 October 1923 – 13 March 2021) was an English motorsport Sportscaster, commentator and journalist. He provided television commentary of live Formula One coverage for the BBC between 1976 and 1996, and for ITV (TV netw ...

(

motor racing An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

Peter O'Sullevan Sir Peter O'Sullevan (3 March 1918 – 29 July 2015) was an Irish-British horse racing commentator for the BBC, and a correspondent for the Press Association, the ''Daily Express'', and ''Today''. He was the BBC's leading horse racing commen ...

(

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

), Harry Carpenter (

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

and

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

), Dan Maskell (tennis),

David Coleman David Robert Coleman (26 April 1926 – 21 December 2013) was a British sports commentator and television presenter who worked for the BBC for 46 years. He covered eleven Summer Olympic Games from 1960 to 2000 and six FIFA World Cups from 196 ...

(

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

Peter Alliss Peter Alliss (28 February 1931 – 5 December 2020) was an English professional golfer, television presenter, commentator, author and golf course designer. Following the death of Henry Longhurst in 1978, he was regarded by many as the "Voice o ...

(golf) and

John Arlott Leslie Thomas John Arlott, (25 February 1914 – 14 December 1991) was an English journalist, author and cricket commentator for the BBC's '' Test Match Special''. He was also a poet and wine connoisseur. With his poetic phraseology, he becam ...

(

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

). Recognition of his services came in November 2001, when he became the first non-international to be inducted into the

International Rugby Hall of Fame The International Rugby Hall of Fame (IRHOF) was a hall of fame for rugby union. It was created in 1997 in New Zealand and is run as a charitable trust with an address at Chiswick in London. Most of the trustees are also inductees. IRHOF accepted ...

. He was awarded an MBE in 1992, an OBE in 1995 and a CBE in the 2003 honours list. A Facebook group, backed by over 6,000 members, was campaigning to gain a knighthood for McLaren. McLaren also featured as a commentator on the video games Jonah Lomu Rugby and EA Rugby 2001, and also did voice work for Telewest Communications. During his final commentary, Wales v Scotland in 2002, the crowd sang "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" and one Welsh supporter displayed a banner claiming "Bill McLaren is Welsh". He had particularly endeared himself to his many Welsh admirers with his comment "They will be singing in the valleys tonight" After retirement, McLaren wrote the book ''Rugby's Great Heroes and Entertainers'' in 2003. In later life, McLaren contracted

Alzheimer's Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

; he had been renowned for his excellent memory.

Family

McLaren was married to Bette, with whom he had two daughters: Linda (born 1952) married former rugby scrum half Alan Lawson and Janie (born 1954, died 2000) married horse racing commentator Derek Thompson. They had five grandchildren, including Scotland scrum-half and

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

player Rory Lawson and Scotland 7s player Jim Thompson.

Death

McLaren died on 19 January 2010 at the age of 86 in his home town of Hawick. His funeral took place on 25 January at Teviot Church in Hawick, followed by a private burial at the town's Wellogate Cemetery after his hearse was applauded through the town by hundreds of well-wishers who lined the streets. On 11 March 2010, thousands of people attended a memorial celebration of Bill McLaren's life held at

Murrayfield Stadium Murrayfield Stadium is a rugby union stadium located in the Murrayfield area of Edinburgh, Scotland. The stadium is owned by the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) who has its headquarters based at the stadium, and is the national stadium of the Scotla ...

in the week leading up to that year's

Calcutta Cup The Calcutta Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the rugby match between teams of England and Scotland played annually in the Six Nations Championship. Like the match itself (England–Scotland), the Calcutta Cup is the oldest trophy con ...

match which was played at the stadium. A statue was unveiled in Wilton Park in Hawick in February 2013 followed in November that year by a bust of McLaren in the main reception area of

. McLaren was named among the inaugural members of the Scottish Rugby Hall of Fame in 2010 and inducted into the

World Rugby Hall of Fame The World Rugby Hall of Fame (formerly the IRB Hall of Fame) recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and othe ...

during Rugby World Cup 2015.

Bill McLaren Foundation

The Bill McLaren Foundation, a charity which exists to develop and promote rugby union and sporting opportunities, was launched at

on 4 March 2010.

References

* Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Scotland Rugby Miscellany'' (2007, Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, ) * Miles Harrison, Miles & McLaren, Bill ''Grand Slam: A History of the Five Nations'' (1999, Aurum Press Ltd, ) * McLaren, Bill ''Bill McLaren's Dream Lions'' (1998, HarperCollinsWillow ) * McLaren, Bill ''My Autobiography: The Voice of Rugby'' (2005, Bantam Books ) * McLaren, Bill ''Rugby's Great Heroes and Entertainers'' (2003, Hodder & Stoughton, ) * McLaren, Bill ''Talking of Rugby'' (1991, Stanley Paul, London ) * Massie, Allan ''A Portrait of Scottish Rugby'' (Polygon, Edinburgh; )

External links

A reluctant legend
– Nigel Starmer-Smith pays tribute to his colleague
Bill McLaren: Legendary 'Voice of Rugby' was a family man above all
(''The Scotsman'')
Obituary
– The Guardian
Obituary
– The Times

– The Telegraph *
Bill McLaren Foundation
– The Bill McLaren Foundation {{DEFAULTSORT:McLaren, Bill 1923 births 2010 deaths Aberdeenshire RFC players BBC sports presenters and reporters British Army personnel of World War II Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Hawick RFC players Royal Artillery soldiers Rugby union journalists Rugby union players from Hawick Scottish rugby union commentators Scottish rugby union players World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees