Jonathan Mark Webb (born 24 August 1963 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

) is a specialist knee surgeon and former 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 ...

fullback. Webb played for the

England national team Team England usually refers to the name under which athletes representing Commonwealth Games England compete. England team or Team England may refer to: *Commonwealth Games England *England national football team *England cricket team *England nat ...

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 (American and British English spelling differences, alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgic ...

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 The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

Medical School from 1982-1987, where he studied medicine and played for the university rugby union team. In 1985 Webb joined

Bristol Rugby Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

, while continuing his medical degree. The team reached the final of the 1987-88

John Player Cup The RFU Knockout Cup was an English rugby union competition open to any member of the Rugby Football Union. First contested in 1971, it was the premier competition in English club rugby before the establishment of the English league structure in 1 ...

, but were beaten by Harlequins. He joined

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

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 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 competit ...

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 Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

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