Will Carling

William David Charles Carling, OBE (born 12 December 1965) is a former Rugby union player for Harlequins, and a former captain of England from 1988 to 1996, winning 72 caps.

Early life

The son of Lt Col Bill Carling and his first wife, Will attended Terra Nova School in Cheshire and then Sedbergh School in Winder House, on an army scholarship and later graduated with a degree in Psychology from Hatfield College, Durham. After university, Carling joined the army and was commissioned into the Royal Regiment of Wales. He never rose above the rank of Second Lieutenant and his commission was terminated in 1988.

Rugby career

In 1987 he resigned his army commission in order to concentrate on rugby as a career, he played for Rosslyn Park and then joined Harlequins and assumed his normal position as centre.

In 1988 he became the youngest ever England captain at the age of 22, and was the most successful, 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, amassing 6 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 went on to 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.