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William David Charles Carling (born 12 December 1965) is an English former rugby union player.
Since retiring, Carling has pursued interests including corporate speaking and punditry. In 2018 he joined the England coaching staff of Eddie Jones as a leadership mentor.
Early life and education
The son of Lieutenant Colonel Bill Carling, an officer in the Royal Regiment of Wales, Carling was born in Bradford-on-Avon and educated at Terra Nova School in Cheshire and then Sedbergh School, on an army scholarship. 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.
On 2 April 1983 he made his debut for England Schools in a 16–0 victory over Ireland. He narrowly missed 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. Carling was made captain of the rugby 1st XV in his final year at school, albeit for Lent term only. Having also shown some talent for cricket, he sought the additional captaincy of the cricket team, but lost out to Mark Alban. This meant the "occasional weekend exercise", but otherwise military activities were rather limited. Playing his first year at fullback, he had to accept a style of rugby that offered less creative freedom than he was used to.