John Wells

Who is John Wells?

John Wells is a former captain and coach of the Leicester Tigers rugby union team and presently head coach for Newcastle.

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.