Sean Lynn: ‘I’m Coming Home’



Rhodri Evans

In the end, there did not seem to be any other candidate.

Sean Lynn, coach of back-to-back Premiership Women’s Rugby champions Gloucester Hartpury, was announced in January as the new Wales women’s rugby head coach ahead of a massive year for the team.

Lynn succeeds Ioan Cunningham who was sacked from his role following a disappointing 2024 which ended with a dismal WXV2 campaign and allegations of bullying from both coaching staff and directors as the players negotiated the renewal of their professional contracts.

Hitting the ground running

Wales needed a reset and did not have a lot of time to do it. With a Six Nations campaign fast approaching in March, not to mention a Rugby World Cup hosted by England in the autumn, Lynn needs to turn this side around, and fast.

Having signed a three-year deal, Lynn no doubt has a mandate to build the side beyond this year, but with an effective ‘home’ World Cup on the horizon, Wales will be expected to compete well at that tournament.

Lynn brings with him a wealth of experience, having coached Gloucester-Hartpury for almost six years, winning the PWR in the last two seasons, toppling Saracens’ early dominance of the competition.

What Lynn brings to the role is his patented ‘circus’ brand of rugby. With a backline packed with internationals like Natasha ‘Mo’ Hunt, Lleucu George, Tatyana Heard, Hannah Jones, Mia Venner, Emma Sing, and Nel Metcalfe, Gloucester-Hartpury are known for high-scoring rugby.

A few of those – George, Jones, and Metcalfe – are all expected to be part of Wales’s Six Nations squad next month, while Gloucester forwards Sisilia Tuipulotu, Gwen Crabb, Kate Williams, and Bethan Lewis will also be donning the red of Wales.

Strong PWR pedigree

With this in mind, one can expect Lynn to lean on his previous experience coaching the Welsh Gloucester-Hartpury players, initially at least.

Other PWR sides have large Welsh contingents, such as Jasmine and Alisha Joyce-Butchers, Ffion Lewis, Courtney Keight, Jenny Hesketh, and Keira Bevan, all at Bristol Bears.

Harlequins have been Gloucester-Hartpury’s major competitors for the title this season, and have their own Welsh delegation with Alex Callender, Carys Phillips, Abbie Fleming, Kayleigh Powell, and Lisa Neumann all featuring this season.

With so many talented players to work with, expectations are raised for Lynn who will be desperate to get off to a good start.

‘Being the Wales head coach is the pinnacle’

“I’m Welsh and I’m coming home, and you don’t need me to tell you what this means to me,” says Lynn.

“Being the Wales head coach is the pinnacle, and I look forward to taking on a role with a squad of talented and exciting players. We have a Six Nations campaign and Rugby World Cup to prepare for in what promises to be the biggest year in the history of women’s rugby.

“We have work to do but having coached, and coached against, the Welsh internationals in England, I know we have the players to make the nation proud.”

Young guns ready to fire

Two players Lynn has coached before who seem ready to make the next step in their international careers are Metcalfe and Gwennan Hopkins.

Both played have made their debuts in the last 18 months and have shown early promise as part of a team struggling for results.

“Metcalfe is very coachable,” Lynn explains.

“I was shocked when she first came in that every little bit of detail, I was telling her she would put that right. She’s got a lot to work on her game, but she’s 20 so you’d expect that, and the girl can finish. I’m very excited as she’s an exciting talent.

“With Gwennan, in the women’s game you can see with certain individuals some of them join rugby late, but Hopkins has been brought up in rugby and understands it.

“She always has a smile on her face but works so hard, I think Wales have a real star with Gwennan, but she needs to be managed.”

Getting the best out of Welsh talent

Metcalfe and Hopkins are just two of Wales’ side to come through the Gloucester-Hartpury system, while national captain Hannah Jones and fly-half Lleucu George will remain key parts of the Welsh backline.

Last year was George’s first as the undisputed owner of Wales’ fabled no.10 jersey, with the 24-year-old having served her apprenticeship behind Elinor Snowsill and Robyn Wilkins in the past.

George is nicknamed ‘50:22’ due to her booming boot, something she showcased to full effect in the win over Italy.

“We tailor our game to the players we’ve got,” says Lynn.

“Lleucu George flourishes for us, we know what her strengths are, and we utilise them, we take a lot of pride in our set-piece, we’re anchored by that and our territorial game.

“I’m loving Lleucu’s territorial game, she’s unique in the women’s game, I’m very impressed with how things are going.

“She’s developing her game in the club game but in the international world that was her first real Six Nations campaign in charge of the no.10 jersey. She’s a great individual around it and I could see her flourishing massively and growing into the international game.

“The more and more I saw her in the Six Nations campaign, I saw her flourish. Yes, she missed some kicks to touch from penalties which are the ones you should be making but she’s making these momentum changers, the 50:22s, kicks to turn the fullbacks.”

The circus comes to Wales

While Gloucester-Hartpury’s success is grounded in a set-piece anchored by the likes of Tuipulotu and Kelsey Jones, they also have the nickname ‘the circus’ due to their attacking backs play.

“We talk about how we have a license to inspire, and we make sure we talk to our coaches to say that if the girls see space and want to use it then great but if they make mistakes and lose it then we can’t be on their backs,” says Lynn.

“We’re named the circus, and we want to be the cirque du soleil of the rugby world. We’ve had several meetings about that circus piece and our identity, and we take lots of pride about what that looks like.

“We need to be good at set-piece but when it comes to the backs its, go out and thrill, get out there and enjoy it.”

If Lynn can bring the circus to Cardiff this spring, it will go a long way to improving the mood around Welsh rugby going into a World Cup.


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