Will Carling

British rugby player

Also known as: William David Charles Carling

Written by

John Nauright

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

History

Will Carling (born December 12, 1965, Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, England) is a former English rugby union football player who was among the national team’s most successful and longest-serving captains. His captaincy coincided with one of the England rugby team’s most successful runs since the 1920s.

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 (now Six Nations Championship) in 1991, 1992, 1995, and 1996. The team also reached the championship game of the 1991 Rugby World Cup. Carling played more than 70 Test (international) matches for England and 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 the 1992 New Year Honours (announced by Queen Elizabeth II, then the reigning British monarch, in December 1991) Carling was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).