Will Carling

William David Charles Carling, OBE (born 12 December 1965) is an English former rugby union player. He played for Rosslyn Park, Harlequins and England, winning 72 caps from 1988 to 1996, and captaining England 59 times.

Post-retirement, Carling has pursued various interests including corporate speaking and punditry. In 2018 he joined the backroom staff of Eddie Jones as a leadership mentor.^[1]

Early life[]

The son of Lieutenant Colonel Bill Carling, an officer in the Royal Regiment of Wales, Carling attended Terra Nova School in Cheshire and then Sedbergh School, on an army scholarship.^[2] He disliked being sent to prep school but showed an aptitude for rugby and played above his age group, arriving at Sedbergh – a "big rugby school" – with a reputation as a serious talent.^[3]

On 2 April 1983 he made his debut for England Schools in a 16–0 victory over Ireland.^[4] He would narrowly miss out on a junior Grand Slam, with an England Schools side that included Kevin Simms, Victor Ubogu and Carling's future Durham and Harlequins teammate Andy Mullins losing 13–12 to Wales.^[5]

University[]

Having decided for a career in the British Army like his father, Carling – after a gap year – took an in-service degree in Psychology at Durham University.^[6] This meant the "occasional weekend exercise", but otherwise military activities were rather limited.^[6] He was allocated to Hatfield College (which had built a strong sporting reputation post-war), where he was reunited with Mullins, but by his own admission did not take his studies seriously and was often absent for lectures; he left with an ordinary pass degree in 1988.^[6] In January that year, Carling, still an undergraduate, made his debut for England against France at the Parc des Princes.^[2] In May he was invited to tour with England abroad, but the start date clashed with his final exams. Consequently, he took his exams two days early, and to safeguard examination security, was driven straight to Newcastle Airport.^[7]

Despite a less than stellar academic record, Carling had the opportunity to continue his education at Cambridge University and represent the Light Blues, who had already recruited his Durham colleague Chris Oti.^[8] However, Carling did not follow up the invitation. He later revealed deciding to reject Cambridge because he did not feel he would have got in on merit.^[8]

Career[]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Though expected to pursue a military career, Carling abandoned these plans when he realised he would have to take significant time out from playing rugby.^[2] He has said that, contrary to media suggestions, he was never "fully commissioned".^[2]

Carling played for Rosslyn Park and then joined Harlequins, where he specialised as a centre. In 1988, he became England captain at the age of 22. He was the most successful holder of the post until Martin Johnson's period. His first match as captain was a shock win over Australia by 28–19. During his time he led England to back-to-back Five Nations Grand Slam victories (1991, 1992) and another Grand Slam in 1995, scoring six tries from outside centre in the Championship, and several more in other matches. While regarded as a less complete player than his centre partner, Jeremy Guscott, Carling and his team reached the final of the 1991 Rugby World Cup. After Carling's retirement as captain, no England team managed a Five (or Six) Nations Grand Slam until 2003.

Under Carling England started to challenge and beat the established rugby union powers such as New Zealand and Australia, and their success helped to make rugby union a more popular sport in England. English victories over New Zealand and South Africa in 1993 were perhaps the peak of England's performance under Carling.

Carling's career included the 1993 British Lions tour to New Zealand. He underachieved on that tour, a pattern attributed by coach Ian McGeechan and manager Geoff Cooke as at least partly due to his failing to secure the captaincy (this instead going to Gavin Hastings of Scotland) but also due in large part to the ascendency in the centre of both Guscott and Scott Gibbs of Wales. McGeechan and Cooke disclosed that Carling came close to voluntarily withdrawing from the squad; he did however recover his test place and played a notable role in the third test. McGeechan commented in his autobiography that Carling's failure to rise to the occasion as a Lion (in contrast to Guscott) may be seen by some as the difference between his legacy as a good player and a great player.

Also in 1993, he became the second captain after John Pullin to lead England to victories over Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, after beating the All Blacks 15–9. He had earlier led England to wins against Australia in November 1988, and South Africa in November 1992.

1995 World Cup[]

In the run-up to the 1995 World Cup, after England returned to form with their third Grand Slam in five years, Carling described the Rugby Football Union general committee as "57 old farts" which led to his sacking as captain. The incident had been provoked by administrator Dudley Wood's comments about England players' alleged desire to cheat by breaking the amateur ethic. He was however quickly reinstated due to public pressure and following a public apology was able to go to the 1995 Rugby World Cup. After a slow start, England found form and subsequently won all their group games knocking out Australia in the quarter final 25–22, thanks to a last-minute drop-goal from Rob Andrew. They were well beaten by New Zealand in the semi-final, largely thanks to four tries from Jonah Lomu. Although Carling himself scored two tries towards the end of that game, and set up two more for Rory Underwood, England lost 45–29. The subsequent loss in the third place play-off, against France, was England's first loss to the French in seven years.

Following his resignation from the England captaincy, he continued to be selected as an outside centre, usually with Guscott or Phil de Glanville; the latter succeeded him as captain.

Life after rugby[]

After his rugby career ended he became a TV pundit on rugby union. He has also worked as a motivational speaker^[9] and in 2001 founded Will Carling Management Ltd, a corporate hospitality company^[10][11] which is also involved in the rugby social networking website 'Rucku'.^[12]

George Gregan, an Australian player, equalled Carling's then world record 59 matches as captain in the 2007 Rugby World Cup against Fiji. In the 2009 Tri Nations Series, Springbok John Smit also equalled and then beat Carling's record in tests between New Zealand in Bloemfontein, and Durban respectively. Brian O'Driscoll Ireland/Lions 2009 and 2010, and Richie McCaw broke his record in 2011.

Personal life[]

Carling is married to his second wife Lisa, the ex-wife of David Cooke. The couple have two children. Carling has an older son with former partner Ali Cockayne. Carling was previously married to the television presenter Julia Carling (née Smith) from 1994 to 1996. Prior to their divorce, he was romantically linked by some members of the press with Diana, Princess of Wales, the then-wife of Prince Charles.^[13][14][15] Carling has denied any such relationship.^[16]

Carling, whose mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when he was an infant and later died from the disease, is a patron of the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer.^[17]

Politics[]

In August 2014, Carling was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue.^[18]

Matches as captain[]

No.	Date	Opposition	Venue	Score	Status	Notes
1988
1	5 November	Australia	Twickenham, London	28–19	Test Match
1989
2	4 February	Scotland	Twickenham, London	12–12	1989 Five Nations
3	18 February	Ireland	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	16–3
4	4 March	France	Twickenham, London	11–0		1 Try
5	18 March	Wales	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff	9–12
6	4 November	Fiji	Twickenham, London	58–23	Test Match
1990
7	20 January	Ireland	Twickenham, London	23–0	1990 Five Nations
8	3 February	France	Parc des Princes, Paris	26–7		1 Try
9	17 February	Wales	Twickenham, London	34–6		1 Try
10	17 March	Scotland	Murrayfield, Edinburgh	7–13
11	28 July	Argentina	Vélez Sársfield, Buenos Aires	25–12	Argentina Series
12	4 August		Vélez Sársfield, Buenos Aires	13–15
13	3 November	Argentina	Twickenham, London	51–0	Test Match
1991
14	19 January	Wales	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff	25–6	1991 Five Nations
15	16 February	Scotland	Twickenham, London	21–12
16	2 March	Ireland	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	16–7
17	16 March	France	Twickenham, London	21–19
18	20 July	Fiji	National Stadium, Suva	28–12	Test Match
19	27 July	Australia	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	15–40	Test Match
20	3 October	New Zealand	Twickenham, London	12–16	1991 Rugby World Cup
21	8 October	Italy	Twickenham, London	36–6
22	11 October	United States	Twickenham, London	37–9		1 Try
23	19 October	France	Parc des Princes, Paris	19–10		1 Try
24	26 October	Scotland	Murrayfield, Edinburgh	9–6
25	2 November	Australia	Twickenham, London	6–12	1991 Rugby World Cup Final
1992
26	18 January	Scotland	Murrayfield, Edinburgh	25–7	1992 Five Nations
27	1 February	Ireland	Twickenham, London	38–9
28	15 February	France	Parc des Princes, Paris	31–13
29	7 March	Wales	Twickenham, London	24–0		1 Try
30	17 October	Canada	Wembley Stadium, London	26–13	Test Match
31	14 November	South Africa	Twickenham, London	33–16	Test Match	1 Try
1993
32	16 January	France	Twickenham, London	16–15	1993 Five Nations
33	9 February	Wales	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff	9–10
34	6 March	Scotland	Twickenham, London	26–12
35	20 March	Ireland	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	3–17
36	27 November	New Zealand	Twickenham, London	15–9	Test Match
1994
37	5 February	Scotland	Murrayfield, Edinburgh	15–14	1994 Five Nations
38	19 February	Ireland	Twickenham, London	12–13
39	5 March	France	Parc des Princes, Paris	18–14
40	19 March	Wales	Twickenham, London	15–8
41	4 June	South Africa	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria	32–15	South Africa Series
42	11 June		Newlands, Cape Town	9–27
43	12 November	Romania	Twickenham, London	54–3	Test Match	1 Try
44	10 December	Canada	Twickenham, London	60–9	Test Match
1995
45	21 January	Ireland	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	20–8	1995 Five Nations	1 Try
46	4 February	France	Twickenham, London	31–10
47	18 February	Wales	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff	23–9
48	18 March	Scotland	Twickenham, London	24–12
49	27 May	Argentina	Kings Park Stadium, Durban	24–18	1995 Rugby World Cup
50	4 June	Western Samoa	Kings Park Stadium, Durban	44–22
51	11 June	Australia	Newlands, Cape Town	25–22
52	18 June	New Zealand	Newlands, Cape Town	29–45		2 Tries
53	22 June	France	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria	9–19
54	18 November	South Africa	Twickenham, London	14–24	Test Match
55	16 December	Western Samoa	Twickenham, London	27–9	Test Match
1996
56	20 January	France	Parc des Princes, Paris	12–15	1996 Five Nations
57	3 February	Wales	Twickenham, London	21–15
58	2 March	Scotland	Murrayfield, Edinburgh	18–9
59	16 March	Ireland	Twickenham, London	28–15

Honours as captain[]

Rugby World Cup

• Runner-up: 1991

Five Nations Championship

• Champions: 1991 (Grand Slam and Triple Crown), 1992 (Grand Slam and Triple Crown), 1995 (Grand Slam and Triple Crown), 1996 (Triple Crown)
• Runners-up: 1989, 1990, 1994

Calcutta Cup

• Winners: 1989, 1991–96
• Runners-up: 1990

Millennium Trophy

• Winners: 1989–92, 1995–96
• Runners-up: 1993–94

Honours[]

In 2021, World Rugby inducted Carling into its World Rugby Hall of Fame, alongside Osea Kolinisau, Humphrey Kayange, Huriana Manuel, Cheryl McAfee and Jim Telfer.^[19]

References[]

External links[]

• Sporting Heroes [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
• Lions profile
• Englands forgotten hero - bbc.co.uk