John Wells (born 12 May 1963) is a former captain and coach of

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 hom ...

rugby union team and presently defence coach for Rugby Colorno in Italy; he has previously been forwards coach for and head coach for Newcastle Falcons.

Career

Wells was born in Driffield, Yorkshire. He attended

Magnus Grammar School Magnus, meaning "Great" in Latin, was used as cognomen of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in the first century BC. The best-known use of the name during the Roman Empire is for the fourth-century Western Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus. The name gained wid ...

and

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

, 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 in Rovigo in 1990. 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 Bob Dwyer AM (born 29 November 1940) is an Australian rugby union coach. Early life Educated at Sydney Boys High School, graduating in 1957, where he played 2nd XV for the school where he played alongside former Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs a ...

was sacked, Wells was appointed Leicester's 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. In 2012 Wells joined Newcastle Falcons on a short term contract until the end of the season, taking a permanent role as forwards coach under new Director of Rugby Dean Richards that summer. He was promoted to head coach in the summer of 2014. In April 2020 Wells moved to Rugby Colorno in Italy to become their defence coach.

References

External links

England profile

Data from Leicester site

Planet rugby stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, John 1963 births Living people English rugby union players English rugby union coaches Alumni of Loughborough University Leicester Tigers players Leicester Tigers coaches Sports scientists People from Driffield People educated at Magnus Church of England School Rugby union players from Yorkshire Rugby union flankers