William Pollock McLaren (16 October 1923 – 19 January 2010) was a Scottish rugby union 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, in the Scottish Borders, in 1923 to a knitwear salesman from Loch Lomond-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. He would later play for Hawick RFC. He served with the Royal Artillery in Italy during the Second World War, including the Battle of Monte Cassino. 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 trial in 1947 and was on the verge of a full international cap before contracting tuberculosis. The disease nearly killed him and forced him to give up playing. He spent 19 months in a sanatorium in East Fortune in East Lothian, where he was given the experimental antibiotic streptomycin, 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 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 Scotland, including Jim Renwick, Colin Deans and Tony Stanger. McLaren's journalistic career started as a junior reporter with the Hawick Express. In 1953, he made his national debut for BBC Radio, covering Scotland's 12–0 loss to Wales. He switched to television commentary six years later. McLaren was one of many post-war commentators who progressed from commentating on BBC Radio to BBC Television during the infancy of television broadcasting in the UK. These included Murray Walker (motor racing/Formula One), Peter O'Sullevan (horse racing), Harry Carpenter (boxing and rowing), Dan Maskell (tennis), David Coleman (athletics), Peter Alliss (golf) and John Arlott (cricket). Recognition of his services came in November 2001, when he became the first non-international to be inducted into the International Rugby Hall of