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RIP – Bill McLaren
By alun | January 29, 2010
I have been a Welsh rugby supporter since my first attendance at Cardiff Arms Park for the Wales v Fiji game in 1964. Nothing thrills me in the same way as it does as when Wales are winning, the despondency felt after losing has got easier over the years (but not a lot). My family moved from Wales in 1971 just as “the golden era” started, frequently my father & I made the long trek from our home in Yorkshire for games until I went even further north to university.
During my time as a student I was mostly limited to watching the games on the TV. That of course usually meant the voice of Bill McLaren. He used to irritate the life out of my father when he would describe a player’s weight in stones “in his stockinged feet” and not the singular form. Dad said he was biased when Wales played Scotland, he of course was the model of neutrality!
I was in his proximity on only one occasion, this was after his retirement at a Heineken Cup semi-final at Lansdowne Road, Dublin. I followed a group of half a dozen “names” walking to the ground, including Tim Horan, Bill McLaren and his wife. It was a cold wet day and my one memory was of the concern and attention that Bill gave to his wife, he ensured that she was protected from the weather, it was apparent that he was still devoted to her after more than half a century together. A real gentleman.
Here’s his commentary from one of the best matches ever (with the right result for my father.)
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