Will Carling
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William David Charles Carling OBE (born December 12, 1965) is a former Rugby union player, and captain of England from 1988 to 1996, winning 72 caps. He is often known in rugby union circles as 'bum face', a reference to his cleft chin.
He attended the Sedbergh school in Winder House, on an art scholarship and later did a degree in Psychology at Durham University.
He played for Harlequins as a centre but was more committed to his England side.
He was the youngest ever England captain at age 22 and was at the time the most successful ever, seeing them to back-to-back Five Nations grand slam victories (1991, 1992), and the final of the 1991 World Cup. He also led them to a 1995 Grand Slam, a feat that was not to be repeated by another England team until 2003.
Carling's England team were often criticised as boring because they did not score many tries and often relied upon their forwards rather than take risks by giving the ball to the backs. Perhaps it was sensitivity about this that caused a famous reversal of tactics in the 1991 World Cup final, when England suddenly played an expansive game that possibly contributed to their defeat by Australia. Carling offered the explanation that it was due to a previous defeat by Australia where England had been beaten up front.
Despite this, 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.
Carling famously described the Rugby Football Union Committee as "57 old farts" which saw him sacked. The incident had been provoked by administrator Dudley Wood's comments about England players' desire to cheat by breaking the amateur ethics. He was however quickly reinstated due to public pressure and following a public apology and was able to go to the 1995 World Cup.
Following his resignation from the England captaincy he continued to be selected as an outside centre ahead of Jeremy Guscott.
Carling was formerly married to the television presenter Julia Carling. Prior to their divorce, he was romantically linked by some members of the press with Diana, Princess of Wales, the former wife of Prince Charles.
After the end of his career he became a TV pundit on rugby union.
Carling advertised Quorn food products on British television in the 1990s.
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| Preceded by Peter Winterbottom |
English national rugby union captain 1988-1996 |
Succeeded by Phil de Glanville |
| British and Irish Lions - 1993 New Zealand tour | ||
|---|---|---|
| Forwards: | Bayfield • Burnell • Clarke • Cronin • Dooley • Galwey • Johnson • Leonard • Milne • Moore • Popplewell • Reed • Richards • Teague • Webster • Winterbottom • Wright |  |
| Backs: | Andrew • Barnes • Carling • Clement • Cunningham • Evans • Gibbs • Guscott • Gavin Hastings (c) • Scott Hastings • Hunter • Jones • Morris • Nicol • Rory Underwood • Tony Underwood • Wallace | |
| Coach: | McGeechan & Best | |
| England squad - 1995 Rugby World Cup | ||
|---|---|---|
| Forwards: | Back • Bayfield • Clarke • Dawe • Johnson • Leonard • Mallett • Moore • Richards • Rodber • Rowntree • Ojomoh • Ubogo • West |  |
| Backs: | Andrew • Bracken • Callard • Carling • Glanville • Guscott • Hopley • Hunter • Morris • R Underwood • T Underwood | |
| Coach: | Rowell | |
