It is not easy putting words to televised sporting pictures, let alone painting the whole verbal picture for radio listeners. The temptation is to gabble on, desperately fill the silence and, if all else fails, state the bleeding obvious. To make the whole thing resemble a cosy, fireside chat with close mates is a great deal harder than it seems.
Rugby has been especially lucky with many of its pre-eminent ‘voices’. For years the late Bill McLaren imbued the sport with such warmth, humanity and soul it was almost a surprise when any genuine “argy-bargy” broke out. The “big laddy”, the “boilerhouse”, the “mad trout up a burn”, the garryowen “with snow on it”… even growing up in the south of England you felt a kinship with Galashiels or Hawick or Melrose or Kelso or wherever else in the Borders they were dancing in the streets to mark the debut of the latest Scotland cap.
Related: Bill McLaren: the bonny spirit that haunts Scotland v England | Frank Keating
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