Gloucester-Hartpury is a 'special group' - Lynn

Gloucester-Hartpury beat Sale to secure top spot in the league table for the third-straight campaign

Gloucester-Hartpury have a "special group" at the club as they keep up their charge on a third straight Premiership Women's Rugby title, says head coach Sean Lynn.

The two-time defending champions beat Sale on Saturday to ensure they finish at the top of the league table when the regular season concludes next week.

They face Harlequins at home in their final league game on Friday at Kingsholm before a home semi-final against Bristol on Sunday, 2 March.

"It's a special group of players and staff that we've got here," Lynn told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

"To go a third season, league leaders, it's pretty impressive and to get that home semi-final is even more special."

Gloucester-Hartpury have lost only six matches in total during the past three seasons as they repeated their feats from 2023 and 2024 to close the campaign at the top of the table.

Full-back Mia Venner, who scored a hat-trick in the win against Sale, said the team did feel pressure to clinch a record-setting third title.

"We feel the pressure, I think we're just going to simmer away slowly, we're not going to put too much on it, we're going to play the way we want to play and not going to think about what's going on around us," she said.

"We've still got to keep our heads down, there's no giving up, [no] let go of the pressure that we're putting on at the moment, so we've got to keep our heads down still. We're not celebrating yet."

Lynn has been instrumental in Gloucester-Hartpury's transformation into the dominant force in English women's rugby, but faces his final games at the helm before leaving to become head coach of Wales women in March.

Victory against Sale was their eighth consecutive win since December, but Lynn said the team are still evolving and learning some new tactics, even at this late stage of the season.

"We brought in some new plays which we want to start looking at and they worked really well for us. It's exciting times," he said.

"[We have] Friday night lights at Kingsholm then a home semi-final after that - two weeks of real excitement around the club at the moment."