Carling to be inducted into World Rugby Hall of Fame
World Rugby has confirmed former England captain Will Carling will be inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2021.
The World Rugby Hall of Fame recognises those who have made an outstanding contribution to the game of rugby throughout their careers, demonstrating rugby’s character-building values of integrity, passion, solidarity, discipline and respect on and off the field.
"On behalf of World Rugby, I would like to congratulate our Hall of Fame inductees, who did not just make their mark on the field of play, but who played a significant role in advancing the sport," said World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont.
To mark this achievement, we revisit Will's first and last Tests as England captain, in his own words.
Will Carling was only 22 when he was appointed England captain.
It came within a year of his international debut and made him the youngest England captain since 1931, with just seven Tests under his belt.
It may have been an unexpected call but it was an inspired one by the England Manager, Geoff Cooke. Carling was to captain 59 Tests, winning 44, including back-to-back Grand Slams in 1991 and 1922, reaching a Rugby World Cup final against Australia in 1991, and securing another Grand Slam in 1995.
Will’s speed and dynamism at centre played no small part in the team’s success and delighted the fans. However, his description of the then RFU Committee as “57 old farts” went down less well, getting him sacked before being hastily reappointed amid a players’ and fans’ outcry.
Playing for Harlequins, he straddled the worlds of rugby amateurism and professionalism, signing a £36,000 a year contract with the RFU in 1995.
More recently, a part-time role with Eddie Jones’ backroom staff saw him joining the past and present as a leadership mentor for the squad.
“Will understands English rugby, he understands what made English rugby great, so combining the skill and leadership with the knowledge of English history is a nice resource to have," said England head coach Eddie Jones.
Will’s first captaincy was in a fantastic victory over the Wallabies at the Home of England Rugby and his last, also at Twickenham, tore ligaments and heartstrings but brought a final hurrah.
First: 5/11/1988 v Australia (28-19)
An emphatic victory
“Being made captain was certainly a shock. We’d toured Australia in the summer and lost 2-0 and were playing them in the November. About two weeks before, I’d just moved into my own flat in London and I was going back to see my parents. I didn’t have a phone in my flat and my mum told me Geoff Cooke had called.
“I thought I’d been dropped, so I was like ‘Oh, right’. I remember sitting for half an hour, dreading ringing him. He had a dry sense of humour and when I rang he said he just wanted to speak to all those who’d played against Australia and wouldn’t be playing in two weeks’ time. I assumed that meant me and he said ‘No not you, I wondered if you want to be captain?’
“I just laughed. It was ridiculous, I was the youngest by three or four years. It was one of those surreal moments, you put the phone down and you’re thinking ‘Wow! captain of England’.
“Then you start to panic. It got worse as the days went by, I was thinking ‘what can I tell the likes of Brian Moore, Peter Winterbottom and Rob Andrew?’
“Everyone was talking about it and the weekend before the match I was standing in the bar at Richmond rugby club. [Simon] Halliday and Wints and the rest were saying ‘It might be you’ to each other. Nobody said ‘It might be you, Will’, so I said it and they just looked at me and told me to shut up!
“When Geoff Cooke announced it at the team hotel there was silence in the room. I talked to Wints years later and he said they’d all gone to the bar and given me a maximum three or four matches. The season before England had four captains. If you were appointed captain it was a fast track out of the England side.
“I know I spent my time asking the senior players what we needed to do. It was very much senior player led right up to the game. As it was getting closer, I had a real fear of a losing battle and letting the guys down, many of them had been my heroes when I was at school.
“My mum and dad were there on the day and I remember trying not to be emotional at the anthems. It’s an incredible moment but it’s not about you, it’s about the team and you need to get your head sorted, just do your job, stay focused.
“The general tone in the build-up was: we’re better than our performances have been so let’s go out there and play, give it a go, take some risks because we have got the ability.
“From the kick-off we were in the mood of ‘let’s just play’. You always need a bit of luck whatever the game but as players we were all in a positive frame of mind.
“I remember Rory (Underwood) scoring in the corner and that brought huge momentum. In some games you just get a feeling, even playing a team you hugely respect with the likes of [Michael] Lynagh and [Nick] Farr-Jones. We were confident, played well, delivered the basics well. Dewi Morris, Paul Ackford and Andy Harriman were all making their debuts. Andy Robinson had an awesome game, Dean Richards was superb.
“It was one of those great days, the forwards were outstanding. Right at the end I got knocked out. I’d just passed to Simon (Halliday) on the way to his try and I got hit. Kevin Murphy, our physio was leaning over me and I asked him who he was. Then Ben Gilfeather, our doctor told me I’d better go off. I said ‘no, I’m fine.’ There were two or three minutes to go but they wouldn’t let me carry on.
“I went up the players’ tunnel, sat in the changing room and I just cried. I was on my own, I don’t think the likes of Dean Richards would have appreciated seeing me crying. I was just so relieved it hadn’t gone badly, hadn’t been a disaster, I hadn’t frozen and let the guys down.”
Last: 16/03/1996 v Ireland (28-15)
Triple Crown and Five Nations Champions
“I ran out on my own because it was my last game as captain. I’d said to Jack (Rowell) I wanted to resign because I wasn’t captaining well enough anymore.
“It had been eight years and it was harder and harder to keep pushing the players, pushing yourself and constantly wanting to improve the team. It was about becoming the best England side and you realise that you’re not pushing it hard enough as captain. So I said to Jack I needed to finish.
“All the players knew it was my last game so that was a bit hard. I especially didn’t want it to be about any of that and we ended up winning the Championship, so that was the focus. It was so unexpected that the trophy was down in Cardiff, everyone expecting it to go to France.
“There I was on the pitch at Twickenham, and it was quite bizarre. I went to turn around and my foot slipped from under me, my ankle turned over and I tore all the ligaments. I remember lying there thinking how pathetic and then being stretchered off.
“I was in the medical room and I asked Terry Crystal, who was our doctor then, what I’d done. He said ‘You’ve made a complete idiot of yourself in front of 80,000 people!’ and was killing himself laughing.
“We were losing when I was carried off, we were 12-15 down at half time. I was watching on the side as Dean Richards managed to sort it out. Grayson’s kicking was fantastic and then Jon Sleightholm scored a great try to seal it.
“So it was the Triple Crown and Championship and I hobbled up the steps to cheers from the crowd. It was very emotional but I was slightly embarrassed. It had been eight years and I loved playing at Twickenham more than I could ever explain to anyone.
“It was never really about the captain but about the team, we had great players. What mattered to me was to always be mindful that I didn’t do anything, or make any decisions, to prolong my time as captain, and that I’d fight for the players even if it meant losing my position
“I was very aware that being captain of England came down to the people I walked out onto the pitch with. It was quite extraordinary, Wade Dooley was in the police, Jonathan Webb was a surgeon, Jason Leonard was a carpenter.
“Their perspective on life was different but what’s interesting is that the current England players are very similar as a bunch of guys and I love spending time with them.”
