Game spoilt

WITH the passing away of the great Bill McLaren, now might be a good time to look at the direction of rugby commentary.

Whereas McLaren brought warmth and humour to the process, we now seem to be heading towards a focus on the negative. The camera in the air allows editors to focus on action with greater clarity but in doing so seems to rob the commentary of a certain warmth and balance.

The result, I feel, is that I am left with the memory of a patchwork of mistakes and errors rather than the fantastic nature of the game. We get used to Scotland losing, but the current type of commentary is doing nothing to promote the game to new generations, and is turning old ones off.

DR DAVID EDWARDS

Dalkeith Road

Edinburgh