John Wells (rugby)
Encyclopedia
John Wells is a former captain and coach of the Leicester Tigers
rugby union
team and presently forwards coach for England
.
Wells was born in Driffield
, Yorkshire
. He attended Magnus Grammar School and Loughborough University
, where he studied sports science
and recreation management.
Playing at blindside flanker, he played for England U-16, U-18, Students, U-23 and England 'A'. He was not capped for England, though he did play in a non-cap international against Italy
.
Wells made his debut for Leicester Tigers in 1982 away against Harlequins, and he went on to play for them over 360 times, captaining the side from 1991-93. He is particularly noted for playing in a back row with England internationals Dean Richards
at number eight and Neil Back
at openside.
After Director of Rugby Bob Dwyer
was ousted in a coaching coup, Wells was appointed forwards' coach, and deputy to Dean Richards
. When Richards was sacked in 2004 after a poor run of results, Wells took over as head coach. He retained this role until the end of the 2004/2005 season, when he left to take up a coaching role at the National Academy.
In 2006 he was appointed as England forwards' coach to assist then head coach Andy Robinson
, alongside attack coach Brian Ashton
and defence coach Mike Ford
. He remained in this position after first Brian Ashton and then Martin Johnson took charge of the team.
Leicester Tigers
Leicester Tigers is an English rugby union club that plays in the Aviva Premiership.Leicester are the most successful English club since the introduction of league rugby in 1987, a record 9 times English champions - 3 more than either Bath or Wasps, the last of which was in 2010...
rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
team and presently forwards coach for England
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
.
Wells was born in Driffield
Driffield
Driffield, also known as Great Driffield, is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The civil parish is formed by the town of Driffield and the village of Little Driffield....
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
. He attended Magnus Grammar School and Loughborough University
Loughborough University
Loughborough University is a research based campus university located in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, in the East Midlands of England...
, where he studied sports science
Sports science
Sport science is a discipline that studies the application of scientific principles and techniques with the aim of improving sporting performance...
and recreation management.
Playing at blindside flanker, he played for England U-16, U-18, Students, U-23 and England 'A'. He was not capped for England, though he did play in a non-cap international against Italy
Italy national rugby union team
The Italy national rugby union team represent the nation of Italy in the sport of rugby union. The team is also known as the Azzurri . Italy have been playing international rugby since the late 1920s, and since 2000 compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland,...
.
Wells made his debut for Leicester Tigers in 1982 away against Harlequins, and he went on to play for them over 360 times, captaining the side from 1991-93. He is particularly noted for playing in a back row with England internationals Dean Richards
Dean Richards (rugby player)
Dean Richards is a former England and British & Irish Lions rugby union player. He had a long playing career with Leicester Tigers, and played 48 times for England and six times for the British & Irish Lions.-Club career:...
at number eight and Neil Back
Neil Back
Neil Antony Back is a former international rugby union footballer for England, who also played for Leicester Tigers, and captained both England and Leicester during his career....
at openside.
After Director of Rugby Bob Dwyer
Bob Dwyer
Bob Dwyer is an Australian rugby union coach.Educated at Sydney Boys High School, he coached Sydney club Randwick to four Sydney championship wins before becoming Australia's national team coach. He coached Australia from 1982-83, and again from 1988...
was ousted in a coaching coup, Wells was appointed forwards' coach, and deputy to Dean Richards
Dean Richards (rugby player)
Dean Richards is a former England and British & Irish Lions rugby union player. He had a long playing career with Leicester Tigers, and played 48 times for England and six times for the British & Irish Lions.-Club career:...
. When Richards was sacked in 2004 after a poor run of results, Wells took over as head coach. He retained this role until the end of the 2004/2005 season, when he left to take up a coaching role at the National Academy.
In 2006 he was appointed as England forwards' coach to assist then head coach Andy Robinson
Andy Robinson
Richard Andrew 'Andy' Robinson OBE is an English rugby union coach and retired player. He is currently the head coach of Scotland.Robinson played as an openside flanker for Bath, England and the British and Irish Lions...
, alongside attack coach Brian Ashton
Brian Ashton (rugby player)
William Brian Ashton MBE is a former rugby union player and the former Head Coach of the England and Ireland national rugby union teams.-Biography:...
and defence coach Mike Ford
Mike Ford (rugby)
Mike A. Ford is an English former rugby league player and current rugby union coach. He is the England national rugby union team's defence coach....
. He remained in this position after first Brian Ashton and then Martin Johnson took charge of the team.