ON TELEVISION/Philip Reid: In the dogfish-eat-dogfish media bowl that is television, life can be a little cramped. Ratings count, viewers mean advertising revenue, and that money, more often than not, is the lifeblood of a station.

Consequently, the television world can not only be claustrophobic but also bitchy and nasty. And yet - as in the case of Bill McLaren - individuals can sometimes transcend all divides.

On Saturday, in the run-up to his last visit to Lansdowne Road in an official capacity as rugby commentator for the BBC, there was a really nice touch from RTÉ in recognition of McLaren's contribution not only to rugby commentating but also to his role as one of the voices of sports broadcasting in these islands.

"Sport is about great voices," remarked Tom McGurk, RTÉ's anchorman in the studio above the pitch, in introducing us to a Ryle Nugent interview with McLaren. It was an uninhibited example of a rival station recognising the brilliance of someone else, and not afraid to do so.

We caught a sight of McLaren producing a bag of sweets, "white balls", as studio guest Scott Hastings later informed us - to none other than Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern. And then there was Ryle, a young interviewer talking to the master of his craft and not afraid to tell us in a star-struck manner he was "overcome with pleasure" in having the chat with Bill.

A few weeks ago, the BBC ran a documentary-type programme on Bill which mainly involved him playing a round of golf on his local course with John Inverdale and talking about the good times. The weather that day was terrible and, yet, Bill was undeterred, played his shots (quite impressive!!) and talked away in that distinctive Scottish brogue with no regrets and complete enthusiasm for the job.

He told Ryle that his wife had "a lovely little programme" made out for his impending retirement which included a lot of "washing and drying dishes and hoovering" but the suspicion remained that quite a lot of time would be spent on the golf course.

After his wee chat with Ryle, Tom McGurk told us that Bill was "the essence of the best of the game" - and no one could argue with that.

Given the occasion, we couldn't help resisting the lure of Bill's golden voice for the match itself and, if any of those "white balls" had been handy, choking wouldn't have been out of the question upon hearing Bill remark he had earlier had the pleasure of meeting Bertie Ahern, as if the honour had been all his. The truth is more likely that Bertie, a true lover of sport, would have been more impressed with meeting Bill than the other way round.

Anyway, Bill introduced us to what he called "the aristocrats of rugby grounds" - with an obvious sentimental attachment for creaking old stands - which, if Bertie and the IRFU have their way, will be replaced by a spanking new stadium in Abbotstown . . . and, so, the scene was set for an Ireland-Scotland match which Bill had told Ryle earlier had "produced as much good rugby" down the years as any other encounter.

Apart from Bill's clarity in commentary, it is his turn of phrase that has endeared him to us all for as long as television screens have been showing matches in colour. It's the tit-bits that are fondly recalled. Like informing us on Saturday that Scotland's full back Brendan Laney was known as "Chainsaw" to his friends or, when Brian O'Driscoll burst over for his first try, that "he must have had a feeling he was in the Gobi Desert, it was so open".

For analysis, though, it is hard to beat those perched in the RTÉ studio. For good measure, McGurk, George Hook and Brent Pope were joined by former Scotland back Hastings - kilt et al - and, as usual, there was no messing about with the words used to describe the first-half action.

While McGurk opined that it was "daylight robbery" that Ireland should have such a lead at the break, Pope referred to the "schoolboy defensive stuff" of the Scottish backs and Hook told us that what we were seeing was "second-division rugby" when compared with what had been on view in the France-England match (on Sky Sports only) earlier in the day.

O'Driscoll had scored two tries in that first-half but Hook informed one and all that the man Irish rugby fans call "God" was "lucky" adding, "not many teams in the world would have given away that first try (when Kevin Maggs was used as a decoy runner and the Scots fell for it)" and, that, for the second, "all he had to do was run" while acknowledging that the real skill was in the pick-up.

There was also lament for the Irish performance in the scrum and, given the day that was in it, Hook's reference to one of McLaren's old gems was acceptable. Hook told us that Ireland were reduced to "jiggery pokery" in the lineout, which was "disaster stuff, (you've) admitted you have problems in the lineout".

By the end, and Ireland comfortable if somewhat flattered winner, it was still hard to please Hook. He called the match "two sides not playing to par", adding that the Scottish defence was "awful" and that their midfield had "no vision". Hastings, meanwhile, talked of his countrymen running up blind alleys. "I told you before the match that this could be a head to head between (David) Humphreys and (Gregor) Townsend, (and) Townsend had a shocker," he added.

There wasn't any sympathy from Hook for Scotland's plight either. He picked out O'Driscoll's third try as an example. In RTÉ's commentary, Tony Ward described O'Driscoll's third try in glowing terms. "Is there a finer exponent of accelerating into the ball at full tilt through the gap than O'Driscoll? If there is, I haven't see him," said Ward. Yet, Hook focused on Scotland's defensive frailties. "He runs through a hole and there isn't a hand laid on him . . . you bring in a kid like (Andrew) Henderson, who has got a handful of club games under his belt, played very little top-class rugby and you throw him into this game, (you) can't do it."

Still, in tribute to Bill, it is only fair to remember O'Driscoll's contribution as the Flower of Scotland observed it. "That laddie O'Driscoll has written his name all over the game!" said McLaren after that same third try. Too true, too true!

PICK OF THE WEEK

Tuesday

RTÉ1 (8.30 p.m.) - No Frontiers World Cup Special - Better get used to places like Niigata, Ibaraki and Yokohama - names we'll be having with our breakfast this summer - as RTÉ get us in the mood for the World Cup. For those intending to make the journey to the Far East, this will give them a taste of what to expect.

Wednesday

Sky Sports 1 (7 p.m.) - Soccer: English Premiership - After Saturday's defeat, Newcastle United need to get something out of a trip to fellow title challengers Liverpool . . . otherwise, it could come down to a duel between Arsenal and Manchester United.

Thursday

Sky Sports 1 (9.30am) - Golf: European Tour - Over two months into the new season, and the PGA European Tour still hasn't hit Europe. This week's tournament - which includes Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke - is the Dubai Desert Classic.

Friday

Network 2 (7.30pm) - Soccer: FAI Cup - The magic of the cup is kept alive by the continued ability of underdogs to bite the big teams. Once upon a time, Dundalk would have been among the game's superpowers in the domestic game but those days have gone and the appeal of this encounter will be to see how they cope with high-flying visitors Shamrock Rovers for this semi-final encounter.