Geoff Parling (born 28 October 1983) is an English

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

coach and former player. His usual playing position was

lock Lock(s) or Locked 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 entertainme ...

. 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 Cl ...

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 home ...

and

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, 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 i ...

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby ...

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

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

then again with Exeter in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. He played in Japan for Munakata Sanix Blues and for

Melbourne Rebels The Melbourne Rebels were an Australian professional rugby union team based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria that competed in the Super Rugby competition. The Rebels made their debut in SANZAAR, SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. T ...

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 has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

. He won 29 caps for , appearing at the

2015 Rugby World Cup The IRB 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 ...

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 national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

on the 2013 tour to Australia. After retiring from playing Parling worked as a forwards coach, including for the national team. On 12 May 2025 he was appointed as Leicester Tigers head coach for the start of the 2025-26 Premiership Rugby season.

Early life and education

Parling was born in

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in County Durham, England, with a population of 84,815 at the 2021 UK census. It gives its name to and is the largest settlement in the wider Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. It is part of Teesside and the Tees Val ...

, England. He studied business and economics at

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

Rugby playing career

Junior level

Parling represented England at Under 16s, Under 18s, Under 19s, and Under 21 level.

Club level

After university Parling 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 Investec 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 file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

. 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 was added to the revised England Saxons 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, 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 match (rugby union), test series against Australia national rugby union team, Austra ...

. He played in each Test, coming on as a replacement in the first Test and starting in the second and third. He also captained one of the tour games.

Playing honours

Leicester 2x Gallagher Premiership:

Exeter 1x Gallagher Premiership:

Lions 1x Test Series:

International tries

Super Rugby statistics

Rugby 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. He will take over the Kobe Steelers as head coach for the 2023–24 season. He previously was the head coach of the Austral ...

's new coaching team. In May 2025 Parling was announced as the new head coach of

on what was described as a long term deal.

Personal life

Parling is married with three children.https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/an-englishman-abroad/

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 rugby union players Exeter Chiefs players English expatriate rugby union players in Australia English 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 2015 Rugby World Cup players English rugby union coaches Expatriate rugby union coaches