Carling, Will

Will Carling, byname of William David Charles Carling, (born December 12, 1965, near Bath, Somerset, England), English rugby union football player who was England’s most successful and longest-serving captain.

Carling began his British representative career for the England Schoolboys team in 1982, having played at Sedbergh, the same school that produced 1920s English great William Wakefield. Carling played centre and led England on 59 occasions between 1988 and 1996. During that stretch, England won 44 times and earned the Five Nations Championship in 1991, 1992, 1995, and 1996 and an appearance in the championship game of the 1991 Rugby World Cup. His captaincy coincided with England’s most successful run since the 1920s. Carling played a total of 72 Test (international) matches for England and one for the British Lions (now the British and Irish Lions). Despite his success as captain, he was briefly and famously stripped of his title after he described the Rugby Football Union executives as “57 old farts” in 1995.

Away from rugby football, Carling became perhaps even more famous for his widely reported friendship with Diana, princess of Wales. His business pursuits included founding Insights Ltd., which presented motivational seminars for business executives, and Will Carling Management, Ltd., a sports hospitality and event management company. He wrote several books about his life and playing career, including Will Carling: My Autobiography (1998). He also published The Way to Win: Strategies for Success in Business and Sport (1996; written with Robert Heller). In 1991 Carling was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and won the ITV Sports Personality of the Year in Britain.