CIRCLE OF POWER

The Allianz Premier 15s is heading for an exciting climax - and Sean Lynn hopes his Gloucester-Hartpury team will be there

- Alan Pearey

WILL THERE be a changing of the guard? All season long, Gloucester-Hartpury and Exeter Chiefs have vied for top spot in the Allianz Premier 15s. Saracens, three-time champions, have been playing catch-up and Harlequins, the only other team to have won it, resumed business in May in danger of missing out on the play-offs.

In Gloucester, there was despondency at the men’s sorry season. It made a sharp contrast to the smiles and laughter of the women’s team that has made such loping strides. Contentment and optimism sit side by side.

“If we can keep our players on that pitch, I’d say we’ll be pretty confident,” says Sean Lynn, head coach of Gloucester-Hartpury, of his team’s title chances. “It depends on momentum, because momentum in sport is huge, and making sure we keep all the players injury-free. And then it’s just about how you adapt if you do get injuries and how good is the squad.”

The squad is good alright, very good. Lynn and his fellow coaches saw to that in pre-season when they sat down to work out what they needed to turn a clutch of narrow defeats into victories. First and foremost it was about beefing up the forward pack.

Maud Muir and Sam Monaghan signed from Wasps, Sarah Beckett joined from Harlequins, Alex Matthews arrived from Worcester. International forwards all.

“We haven’t seen Alex really, she’s only played a game and a half (by mid-May). Having Alex coming off this Six Nations is huge for us,” adds Lynn.

“Sam has been very good for us, her work-rate is outstanding. Sarah was a target I looked at in the last two years. Sometimes you forget how young she is (24). She’s grown massively into the game and she had a great TikTok Six Nations.”