As the final whistle rung out at Sunday’s Premiership Women’s Rugby final, Gloucester-Hartpury’s record third title in a row brought with it a close to a stunning chapter in the club’s recent history.
Head of rugby Sean Lynn is departing to take up the role of national head coach with Wales women, having been a huge driving force in transforming Gloucester-Hartpury into the dominant force in English women’s domestic rugby.
Five years ago, they were a mid-table outfit. Now, they are three-time PWR champions, having just secured their third consecutive title by comprehensively beating Saracens on their own patch.
“We had to give Lynny a good send-off and sometimes you can’t count on dreams just coming true because you want them to, so we did have to dig deep and luckily we got our fairytale ending,” centre Tatyana Heard told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.
Lynn has been part of the Hartpury College and Gloucester Rugby set-up for two decades and co-captain Zoe Aldcroft said the Welshman would always use the motto “licence to inspire”.
“That’s just about how can you be yourselves and how can you express yourself on the pitch,” Aldcroft added.
As a teenager, Lynn played for Gloucester’s academy. He then coached their BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) men’s side – leading them to three Super Rugby titles – before becoming head of women’s rugby in 2019. He and his family even live on the college grounds.
While the on-field success Gloucester-Hartpury have had speaks for itself in the past three seasons – only six losses in 55 league games – the family culture is what comes up time and again from players as what makes the club special.
“Lynny has just been absolutely phenomenal for us at Gloucester-Hartpury, how he brings us together and how he connects us as a team, whether that be on pitch or off pitch, is so personable,” added Aldcroft, who was first coached by Lynn when she was 16.
“I think it’s just massive and we do come into the rugby environment like ‘how can he get the best out of us?’ – that’s something that I think is so important – but also ‘how can we get the best out of Lynny?'”
