Not so long ago trying to beat the All Blacks was the least of Geoff Parling’s problems. Lying on the floor of a London hospital toilet with both his arms in slings, unable to get up and wearing a flimsy pair of paper pants, he felt as powerless as a Lions lock forward conceivably can. When people talk about the ups and downs of professional sport, the Leicester second-row has a clearer insight than most.
The 30-year-old can laugh about it now, having regained his place in the England starting XV, but back in November, having just had two shoulder operations, he was in a much darker place. “I needed a wee in the middle of the night so I rang the nurse because she had to help me get up. I went to the toilet, she left and because I was woozy from the anaesthetic I fell over something in the toilet. I couldn’t pull the emergency cord so I was lying there for about 10 minutes in my paper pants just shouting ‘Help’ and thinking: ‘This is a bit different to what happened in the summer’.”
Even after he was discharged and returned home to be reunited with his wife and baby – he watched his daughter being born on Skype during last year’s Lions tour in Australia – things were not instantly easier. “My missus was having to set the alarm to help me get dressed and then she’d do the baby.”
Just imagine the Parling family’s pride and happiness, therefore, when he battled his way back into England’s starting lineup in Auckland, played outstandingly well and retained his place ahead of Courtney Lawes for Saturday’s second Test.
It completed an eventful 12 months in which he shared in a Premiership-winning side, starred in a series-clinching Lions victory in Sydney and then saw his England place nabbed, with increasing authority, by the long-armed Lawes. The developing partnership of Lawes and Joe Launchbury may yet propel England into next year’s World Cup but Parling has never dealt in such casual assumptions and is not about to start now.
The pressure he put on the All Blacks’ lineout jumpers at Eden Park, plus a 100% return on his side’s own ball, went a long way towards establishing the platform which could – and should – have won England the first Test. Stuart Lancaster could have recalled Lawes but, understandably, opted for more of the same. Parling, though, has been around long enough to know how New Zealanders react when visiting sides run them close in the first Test of a series. “They’re a very good team and if something’s gone well one week in rugby it doesn’t mean it’s going to go well again the next.”
That said, Parling’s reputation for lineout stealth is steadily growing. He also supplies crucial leadership to a youthful side who appreciate the former Newcastle Falcon’s straight-talking advice. Parling, born in Stockton-on-Tees, may have played well last week but his visible disappointment at the final whistle spoke volumes. “As I said afterwards we should be proud of the way we played but the final result showed a New Zealand victory so there’s a lot more frustration than anything else. We need to close out games like that.”
It has been the recurring theme of England’s preparation all week: the need to play for 80 minutes and to finish strong, just as the Lions ultimately did in Australia last year. “I don’t want to seem like an old boy but having had a bit more experience of games like this I’m more than happy to say something. You’d hope that if we were ahead and went down to 14 men again this week we’d be smarter in what we did and where we put the ball.”
Either way, there has never been any sense of resting on laurels in Parling’s world. He did not win his first England cap until he was 28 and is an object lesson for young kids tempted to give up at the first hint of a setback. Having injured his shoulder against New Zealand in November and chosen to “take the hit” and have the other one cleaned out too, he was well aware even regaining his Leicester place would be tough.
“There is always someone younger aiming for a place but how you prepare for a game should be the same every single time. I’d like to think that if we’d absolutely smashed them last week we’d want to do the same again this week. That’s part of playing at this level.” The Parling mantra should be blindingly clear by now: work harder, think straight, assume nothing. Win or lose, his tale of perseverance is an example to all.
