Geoff Parling (born 28 October 1983) is an English

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

coach and former player. His usual playing position was

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

. Parling played for

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football C ...

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its ho ...

and

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played its home m ...

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

, he won three English titles as a player, two with Leicester in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

then again with Exeter in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

. He played in Japan for

Munakata Sanix Blues , formerly ''Fukuoka Sanix Blues'' and ''Fukuoka Sanix Bombs'', was a Japanese rugby union team based in Munakata, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Founded in April 1994 (Heisei 6), the team rose rapidly through the Kyūshū leagues and was in the Top ...

and for

Melbourne Rebels The Melbourne Rebels is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Melbourne. They made their debut in SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. They were the first privately owned professional rugby union team in Australia, until 2017 ...

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

. He won 29 caps for , appearing at the

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...

and won three caps for the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

on the 2013 tour to Australia. Since retiring from playing Parling has been a forwards coach, including for the national team.

Playing career

Club level

Parling was born in Stockton-on-Tees, England. After attending

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick unive ...

, he began his club career at Newcastle Falcons. Parling became a first team regular in the 2005–06 season, winning the players' player of the year award. Parling captained Newcastle on several occasions during the 2006–07 season. He was the runner-up for the Gatorade Performance of the Guinness Premiership Season 2008–09. Parling signed a contract to play for

for the 2009/10 season. Parling's debut for

came against the club he had just left, and his first start for the club was in the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

clash with Benetton Treviso. He also played in the Friendly match against , which the Tigers won 22–17. Injuries to other Tigers players helped him to hold down a starting berth at lock, and the Tigers topped the table. They went on to win the 2009-10 Guinness Premiership final 33–27 against

Saracens upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

. Parling stole a vital line-out in the final minute of the game, which was right on the Tigers' try-line. He was voted Newcomer of the Year by Tigers supporters. Parling won a second Premiership title in 2013, this time defeating Northampton Saints in the final. On 29 January 2015, it was announced Parling had signed for

on a two-year deal. He started the final as Exeter Chiefs defeated

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

to be crowned champions of the 2016-17 English Premiership.

International level

Parling represented England at Under 16s, Under 18s, Under 19s, and Under 21 level. Parling was added to the revised

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

squad as cover for Nick Kennedy on 25 January 2010. He played in the wins against Ireland A and Italy A. Parling was selected in the 44-man squad to tour Australia in June 2010, and played in the first game against the

Australian Barbarians The Australian Barbarians, nicknamed the "Baa-Baas", is an invitational rugby union team which has been a major part of Australian rugby since the team was founded in 1957. The club is based in Australia. The idea came from the concept of the B ...

, though missed out on selection for the second as a result of a neck injury. In January 2012, Parling was called up to the England senior squad in preparation for their Six Nations campaign as an injury replacement for Louis Deacon. He earned two caps off the bench before starting at lock against Wales, in a tightly-fought loss. His good performance (particularly at the line-out) saw him retained at lock for the following wins against France and Ireland, where he put in even better performances which saw him run the offensive and defensive line-outs well. He finished the tournament as the first-choice lock, ahead of Tom Palmer. In April 2013, Parling was selected for the

2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia The 2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia was a rugby union tour during June and July 2013. The British & Irish Lions played ten matches - a three-test series against Australia, and matches against the five Australian Super Rugby sides, ...

. He played in each Test, coming on as a replacement in the first Test and starting in the second and third.

International tries

Super Rugby statistics

Coaching career

After retirement from playing in 2018 Parling became lineout coach for the

. In September 2020 Parling was appointed as 's forward coach in

Dave Rennie Dave Rennie (born 22 November 1963) is a New Zealand and Cook Islands professional rugby union coach and former player who is the head coach of the Australia national rugby union team, having previously coached New Zealand sides the Chiefs, , ...

's new coaching team.

References

External links

Geoff Parling profile
at Leicester Tigers
Geoff Parling profile
at the RFU {{DEFAULTSORT:Parling, Geoff 1983 births Living people Alumni of Newcastle University British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England England international rugby union players English expatriate rugby union players English rugby union players Exeter Chiefs players Expatriate rugby union players in Australia Expatriate rugby union players in Japan Leicester Tigers players Melbourne Rebels coaches Melbourne Rebels players Munakata Sanix Blues players Newcastle Falcons players People educated at Durham School Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Stockton-on-Tees