Will Will Carling’s Comments stifle England’s Rugby World Cup Chances?

Former England rugby union captain Will Carling has expressed criticisms in the run up to England’s campaign for the 2015 Rugby World Cup trophy. Speaking against head coach Stuart Lancaster’s decision to include Sam Burgess in the starting line-up, Carling believes choosing Burgess is a mistake and also spoke out against omitting Danny Cipriani from the squad.

Carling spoke last month at the Heineken’s World Cup advertising campaign to express his thoughts saying “I’m in awe of Sam as a rugby league player, but there is no one that I have spoken to whom I respect – ex-players, coaches – who thinks he’s ready,’ he went on to explain “In the 20 minutes he [Cipriani] was given against France in Paris he was outstanding, but that doesn’t seem to have mattered. Why was he even in the squad if they weren’t going to give him a fair go? Any time he has had, he’s been exceptional.” Carling can be booked for public appearances and endorsement through the talent agency MN2S.

His ample experience marks him out as a voice of reason, with over seven years of experience as an England centre, and the youngest ever England captain, at the age of 22, who went on to lead his team to Five Nations gland slam victories in 1991 and 1992.

Carling’s criticisms stem from deep analysis of the player’s abilities, as he remarked “If you watched Burgess carefully he was out of position a huge amount in defence and England can’t afford that against sides who will focus on him. He doesn’t understand where the ball is coming from and you can see that in the way his feet are when he lines up. The southern hemisphere boys will focus on him…and opponents will be coming from angles he doesn’t understand.”

The 2015 World Cup bid represents a pivotal moment for England, with many commentators and former players expecting the players to take advantage of home support to help them on the way to success. Speaking on England’s home advantage, Carling commented, “It’s more the comfort in the build-up, and for England just having that comfort blanket around them hopefully will just ease off a little bit of the pressure and allow them just to perform”.

Since first hosting the tournament in 1992, rugby has become a much bigger sport. Speaking on taking England all the way to the finals under his leadership, only to be finally beaten by Australia, Carling has suggested the players will receive much more support than in previous years. “This World Cup will be so much bigger than 1991. The excitement, the build-up and the tension is already phenomenal,” he said”. He also spoke about the difficulties of England’s group: “From an England point of view it’s magnified even more by the fact that they’re in a group where there’s a genuine prospect that they might not get out of that group”.

According to Carling, England also face another obstacle: playing style. He expressed the view that they need to decide on a style of play for the tournament. “The danger for England is that they don’t get caught, or stuck, between two stalls. It’s got to be one or the other. I think it’s thrown their preparations slightly.” In the sense that they were very fixed on a way of playing and two of the pillars for that were Owen Farrell and Manu Tuilagi.

Alongside his role of established and respected commentator and pundit, Will Carling is an established speaker with many engagements already under his belt, popular at corporate entertainment events and regularly appearing as an after dinner speaker. If you would like to book Will as a celebrity speaker, please contact one of MN2S dedicated talent agents for booking details.