How a Christmas dinner revived Gloucester-Hartpury's PWR three-peat bid

Telegraph

16-03-2025

It was last December, midway through the Premiership Women's Rugby season, when Gloucester-Hartpury's title-defending credentials were questioned. Their 19-14 defeat by Bristol at Kingsholm marked their third loss of the season – an unwanted tally by their lofty standards – and as the players trudged off the pitch, their body language said it all.
'After the game, a few of the players were just saying to me, 'Lynny, we're not us, we're not us',' says Sean Lynn, the Gloucester-Hartpury head coach. 'So on the Monday, I posed the question to the players, 'Who are we?''
Little did Lynn know that his wife had already put the wheels in motion to restart the Gloucester-Hartpury bus. The idea was ambitious: to host a festive squad meal at the Lynn family home that would restore team morale and set them up for the next stage of the season. 'Vic, my wife, said to me, 'I'm putting on a Christmas dinner for these girls and we are going to have something special',' says Lynn. 'We had 25 players come round, plus family. I think she fed about 31-32 people that day. Nothing phases my wife. She's my rock.'
There are few elite teams in the English club game who epitomise the importance of culture like Gloucester-Hartpury. The word can sometimes be a nebulous term in elite sport but, as the Lynn Christmas dinner shows, there is huge value to be found in togetherness and a vibrant team environment. Less than a fortnight later, Gloucester-Hartpury exacted revenge with a convincing 40-17 victory over Bears at Ashton Gate, spoiling Ilona Maher's marquee debut for the club.
'I know it sounds stupid when we say we play for each other, but we do,' says Bethan Lewis, the Gloucester-Hartpury and Wales back row, ahead of Sunday's PWR final against Saracens. 'We genuinely enjoy being around each other's houses and having dinner together, even on our days off. We're like a family and those connections off the field do translate on the field. It sounds a bit cliché, but that's been the difference for us.'
When Lynn was appointed as the head of women's rugby at Hartpury University and College in 2020, he set about tightening up a patchy player pathway from college level through to the elite women's team that once leaked talented players like Ellie Kildunne, but the side's sixth-place finish at the end of the 2021-22 season would be the impetus for Gloucester Rugby to deepen its connection with the women's game.
'Gloucester rugby is not just for men any more'
At a time when Exeter Chiefs and Sale Sharks had joined the scene, the club wanted to ensure its women's team flourished, rather than floundered. The club's central investment in the side significantly increased and commercial rights to both the men's and women's teams, including kit sponsorship, began being packaged together. The return on investment has been massive: a potential third consecutive domestic title awaits.
'What you can see now is that professional joint venture,' says Lynn. 'For us to be allowed to go in and use those facilities and work with the men, for me to have conversations with George Skivington just helps massively. They're in the same lounge area, Lewis Ludlow and Christian Wade are in the physio room having banter with the players. Two, three years ago, we said, 'Two clubs, one city'. You can definitely see that. Gloucester rugby is a rugby town and rugby city, and that's not just for men any more. It's the men and women.'
Having topped the table at the end of the regular season, Gloucester-Hartpury will be given the home changing room at StoneX Stadium in an early psychological blow to the Londoners, who face a big task to dethrone the champions. The Cherry and Whites' scrum was found wanting early on in their semi-final win over Bristol, but this is a team that knows how to problem solve.