[7] 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.
[8] Having decided for a career in the British Army like his father, Carling – after a gap year – took an in-service degree in Psychology at Durham University.
[9] He was an undergraduate student at Hatfield College, Durham (which had built a strong sporting reputation post-war), and was reunited with Mullins.
"[10]Carling strongly considered giving up rugby after failing to enjoy his first year on the pitch at Durham, but found himself rejuvenated during an old boys' match at Sedbergh; and this reignited a desire to succeed in the sport.
England's recent record was one of considerable underachievement, described by one writer as a "sprawling desert of failure, stretching back as far as 1963" — they had only won a single Five Nations Championship since then, in 1980.
The team list was officially published the following Monday, and after some uncertainty, Carling realised he'd earned his first callup when a university friend phoned to congratulate him.
[18] Carling started the remaining games against Wales, Scotland and Ireland, with England winning the latter two to finish third in that years Five Nations Championship.
[4] By Carling's own account, he was due to attend Sandhurst for the full officer training course in August 1988, but his status as an England international meant the army would not be able to accommodate his rugby ambitions.
[18][b] As rugby was an amateur game at this point, he accepted an executive post with Mobil Oil to make ends meet.
In the run-up to the 1995 World Cup, after England returned to form with their third Grand Slam in five years, Carling described the Rugby Football Union general committee as "57 old farts" which led to his sacking as captain.
The incident had been provoked by administrator Dudley Wood's comments about England players' alleged desire to cheat by breaking the amateur ethic.
After a slow start, England found form and subsequently won all their group games knocking out Australia in the quarter-final 25–22, thanks to a last-minute drop-goal from Rob Andrew.
Following his resignation from the England captaincy, he continued to be selected as an outside centre, usually with Guscott or Phil de Glanville; the latter succeeded him as captain.
He has also worked as a motivational speaker[22] and in 2001 founded Will Carling Management Ltd, a corporate hospitality company[23][24] which is also involved in the rugby social networking website 'Rucku'.
In the 2009 Tri Nations Series, Springbok John Smit also equalled and then beat Carling's record in tests between New Zealand in Bloemfontein, and Durban respectively.
[30] In August 2014, Carling was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue.