A man who splintered the defences of television sports commentary but kept a foot in touch like a rampaging wildebeest when it came to his adoring fans who swooned like the last daffodils of spring at his every verbal quip and analogy. A man who defined Rugby commentary and set the bar which since his sad departure from this earth has yet to be beaten.

And maybe it should be left that way for there simply cannot be another Bill McLaren.

Born in the Scottish Borders, in 1923 he relished the passion to which the people of this part of Scotland brought to the rugby table and when he was old enough began playing himself. He became a useful flanker for Hawick first XV and even got a trial for Scotland itself before fate in the form of acute tuberculosis intervened. It was a crisis which would change his life.

Struck down by the disease, his life hung by a thread before the application of the then experimental drug Streptomycin saved his life. However it was clear that his rugby playing days were over but as he whiled the days in hospital away he found his new calling: commentary. It was after he commentated on a hospital table tennis tournament that he wanted to go into journalism but also wanted to give something back to the area that had given him so much.

He pursued a dual strategy: studying Physical Education in Aberdeen while also enlisting as a junior reporter for the Hawick Express. It was with the Express that he managed to get his chance to commentate for real and debuted in 1953 for BBC Radio covering Scotland's 12 - 0 loss to Wales. Soon after he became a regular fixture and in 1959 he made the switch to television sports successfully and a few years later he made the job his, joining the likes of Murray Walker (Formula One) and John Arnott (Cricket) as Britain's best known sports commentators.

Renown for his almost legendary research skills and rugby brain, McLaren would be able to tell you a myriad of facts regarding any of the 30 players on the field at that moment in time and could probably tell you about the match officials as well. And then there was the way the man worded his commentary with an array of wonderful almost awe inspiring tounge twisting analogies which entertained as well as enthralled. A gentleman and a scholar, the man also prided himself on his impartiality when commentating and yet was immensely proud of his Scotland whenever they won.

His most compelling catchphrases have passed into popular culture such as the famous "they'll be dancing in the streets of Pontypool tonight!"

The man however was also a very modest and private man who guarded his privacy like a hawk and at times was bewildered at the level of love and adoration for his work. McLaren will always be known as a man quietly proud of his work yet dismissive at the slightest hint of acclaim for that very work.

BBC Rugby Special colleague, Nigel Stammer-Smith, described McLaren's extraordinary levels of preparation before a game:

He is the most diligent of men in his preparation.

If humanly possible, he attends every team's training session prior to the matches.

And, like Peter O'Sullevan - who took painstaking care in painting on his sheets the colours of jockeys' silks - so Bill uses a pack of cards to repeatedly flick over and put name to number.

Thus: "One, Cotton; Two, Wheeler..." etc.

And then, of course, the "big sheets" that are placed in front of him at every match, a work of art in multi-coloured byros with detail that might well include what each player had for breakfast.

It was therefore a sad indictment on the changing face of rugby that disspointed the great Bill when the Australian Rugby Union flatly refused him access to their team's training camp during the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Dublin. Something which may have influenced his decision to withdraw from commentary several years later in 2002.

In the meantime, he coached rugby to schools across the Borders until the late 1980s and he taught and influenced several Scottish rugby internationals such as Colin Deans and Jim Renwick.

Bill McLaren: player, coach, commentator and all round gentleman.

He will be remembered as the "voice of rugby" but he was so much more than that.