| Date of birth | 8 September 1970 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Place of birth | Perth, Western Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.97 m (6 ft 5+1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 120 kg (260 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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John Welborn (born 8 September 1970)[1] is a former Australian rugby union player, who played at the lock position. He is a former Wallaby. He was the first Western Australian-born player to represent Australia in rugby union, and played six matches for the Wallabies.
During his career, Welborn played for CA Brive in Ligue Nationale de Rugby's TOP 14 division, the Sharks in the Currie Cup, Leicester Tigers in the Guinness Premiership, and for the Western Force in Super Rugby.
Welborn grew up in Perth, Western Australia, where he attended Scotch College.[citation needed] After gaining a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Western Australia and representing the state in 15 senior rugby games, he moved to Sydney in 1992 to follow his ambition of playing rugby for Australia.[citation needed]
In New South Wales, Welborn earned 63 caps for the Waratahs from 1994 to 2000,[2] remaining their most capped second row forward of all time. Representing the Wallabies between 1996 and 1999, he played six tests for Australia. He also had successful playing stints with the Sharks in South Africa and the Leicester Tigers in the UK before moving to France where he played five seasons for famous French club Brive.[citation needed] In 2006, he was a founding member of the Western Force.[3]
Following his retirement from professional rugby, Welborn worked as an investment banker.[3] In 2010, he was appointed to the board of Tourism WA.[3] As of 2023, he is the President of RugbyWA.[4]