The Welsh Rugby Union have announced the name of the one person most likely to be handed the task of resurrecting Cymru’s fortunes: Sean Lynn.
He has seen his club, Gloucester-Hartpury, rise to become double trophy winners in the English PWR, and they have a decent chance of a hat-trick of triumphs, That would be an unique achievement.
G-H must have been very unwilling to see him go; his responsibilities at the college-university run much wider than just the elite squad. The most promising young players in the country make a beeline for west Gloucestershire to strengthen their chances of making it big-time.
At least the club has retained his services until the end of this season.
As for their chances: they lie three points ahead of Quins but have played one game more. It’s to their advantage that they meet the two bottom clubs, Leicester and Sale, before the big clash against Quins in the final round. There once more G-H have the advantage of playing at home.
All comes down to success in the play-offs though.
Wales
Rugby is in turmoil across the country; both the men’s and women’s games have been suffering. Many would argue that Lynn was the only possible choice for the women’s post. If not him, who else? He has essential qualifications: he is Welsh, he has extensive knowledge of the women’s game and success within it; he has several capped Welsh players in his club squad, including the national captain, Hannah Jones. He had their support from the outset.
That leaves the rest of the G-H squad wondering about their future, but that is is a familiar phenomenon. Every club that joined the Premier 15s in 2017 has either disappeared or has a new head coach. Change is permanent.
Whoever was tasked with taking over the Welsh job was bound to be faced with a mountain to climb. The Cymru side has been through sapping experiences in recent years, and there is precious little time before the Six Nations kicks off in late March.
They now lie as low as tenth in world standings, but it’s only a short while since they reached an all-time high of sixth – and that came under the tutelage of Ioan Cunningham, now deposed.
The new people in charge at Cardiff Towers, Abi Tierney, the Chief Exectutive, and Belinda Moore, the very recent appointment as Head of Women’s Rugby, are likely to set Lynn sensible targets; nothing too ambitious this early on. They will know they cannot expect unbroken success overnight.
Lynn himself will decide what the reasonable expectations should be. Wales have a daunting schedule in the 6N: away to a buoyant Scotland to start, then at home to Engtland. They play France away in the third round, by when they could easily be looking at a 0-3 record, and the doomsters could be massing.
They play Ireland at home and finish against Italy away.
The Outlook
None of those matches is a gimme, but the most obvious chance of points comes in that final game in Parma. There they will be meeting another team under a new boss, Franco Roselli.
So, whatever Lynn’s outstanding credentials, expectations need to remain modest for the Cymru side. At this early stage, I don’t see them possessing the requisitie stores of skill, pace, game- management, fitness and physique to improve on last year’s depressing sixth position.
For their sakes, I hope I’m wrong. But the 6N is one of those merciless competitions where one team must come top, another bottom.
Lynn will already have been mapping out a longer-term future for his side; so will the two women in authority. The more distant destination is the World Cup; it would be a kindness not to set a target this early.
One welcome sight would be an influx of bright new talent through the Celtic Challenge and the age-group sides.
The status of the two franchises in the CC is none too promising. Though Gwalia Lightning stand third of the six, they beat winless Brython Thunder only 10-0 in their return match. This was a match best described as bitty. The hunt goes on for promising youngsters to match the best that Ireland and Scotland have produced over the past year or so.
While we can be sure the WRU has chosen the best candidate for the job, we remain less certain of any short-term success.
