Jonathan Mark Webb (born 24 August 1963 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

) is a specialist knee surgeon and former English

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

fullback. Webb played for the England national team from 1987 to 1993, reaching the 1991 World Cup Final and winning two Five Nations grand slam titles. Since retiring from sport in 1993, he has focused on his career in

orthopaedic surgery Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

and has treated a number of professional rugby players and athletes. His father was the noted paediatrician John Webb.

Rugby union career

Club level

Webb played top-flight rugby union during the game’s final years as an amateur sport. He attended the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

Medical School from 1982-1987, where he studied medicine and played for the university rugby union team. In 1985 Webb joined Bristol Rugby, while continuing his medical degree. The team reached the final of the 1987-88

John Player Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English club ...

, but were beaten by Harlequins. He joined Bath in 1990, staying until his retirement in 1993. Bath were dominant in European rugby during this time. Webb was part of the team that won the English Premiership in 1990-91, 1991-92, and 1992-92, and the Anglo-Welsh Cup in 1990 and 1992.

International level

Webb made his England debut at the 1987 Rugby World Cup, against host nation Australia on 23 May. He was a fixture in the team for the next two years, but was dropped in favour of

Simon Hodgkinson Simon Hodgkinson (born 15 December 1962) is a former international rugby union player. He represented England at fullback between 1989 and 1991, gaining 14 Test caps. Career Hodgkinson made his debut against Romania in Bucharest in 1989 and w ...

in the second half of 1989, on the grounds of Hodgkinson's more consistent kicking both from hand and from place-kicks, and did not play for the next couple of years, thus missing out on the Five Nations Grand Slam of 1991 (and on the near-miss in 1990). Recalled for the summer tour and the World Cup later that autumn - on the grounds that he was more adventurous going forward and gave England greater options in the back line, after criticism of their forward-heavy tactics in the 1991 Grand Slam - he was in the England team that reached the 1991 World Cup Final, kicking his country’s only points as they lost to Australia 12-6. Webb also was part of the team that won England's second successive Five Nations championship Grand Slam in 1992: including perhaps his finest performance, scoring two tries (the first after less than a minute) in the 38-9 victory over Ireland in addition to kicking four conversions and two penalties. In addition to the consistency of his much-improved kicking throughout the tournament, he added another try against France in the next match as well. He continued to represent England until 1993, winning 33 caps and scoring a total of 296 points. He played his final international against Ireland on 20 March 1993. Webb retired from sport in 1993 to focus on his career as a surgeon. “I didn’t think I would be able to carry on doing both,” he has said. “By that stage in 1993 I had two kids, was a registrar, living in Bristol, working in Swindon and the time required for rugby was growing.” In June 2016 Webb was appointed as a

World Rugby World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

Council RFU representative.

Surgical career

Since retiring in 1993, Webb has developed a career in knee surgery and sports medicine, specialising in keyhole surgery and knee ligament reconstruction. In 1996 he undertook a year-long fellowship at the North Sydney Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Centre in Australia. In 1999 he was named an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Bristol. In 2011 Webb co-founde
Fortius Clinic in London
along with fellow surgeons Andy Williams and James D. F. Calder, where he practices as a consultant orthopaedic knee surgeon. In 2014 he became a patron of the Southern Spinal Injuries Trust. In 2018 he took on a new role as president of Young Bristol.

Other activities

Since 2006, Webb has been a member of The Society of Merchant Venturers.

References