Kendrick Graeme Lynn (born 30 November 1982) is a former New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. A versatile utility back, he last played for

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

in the French

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

competition.

Playing career

Provincial Rugby

Lynn was educated at St Peters School in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, New Zealand and played in

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

age group teams while at school. He then studied at the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

, completing a BPhEd degree in 2006. After graduation, Lynn chose to stay in the South Island, playing his club rugby for the Invercargill Rugby Club and making his provincial debut for

Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada * Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Southland Region, a region of New Zealand * Southland County, a former New Zealand county * Southland District, part of the wider Southland Re ...

in the

2006 Air New Zealand Cup The 2006 Air New Zealand Cup was the inaugural season of the Air New Zealand Cup, contested by teams from New Zealand. The season ran from July to October 2006. At the end of the regular season, the top team from ''Repechage A'' and ''B'' joine ...

. By the 2009 Air New Zealand Cup, Lynn had developed into one of the Stags' top performers, starting 14 games and scoring 4 tries as Southland claimed the

Ranfurly Shield The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challeng ...

that year. In the 2010 ITM Cup, Lynn missed substantial time through injury but still recorded 3 tries in only 8 starts. After 6 seasons with Southland, Lynn moved north to sign with

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...

for the

2012 ITM Cup 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Super Rugby

On the back of his solid form with Southland, Lynn was selected to the Highlanders squad for the 2009 Super 14 season. Used mainly on the wing, he made 8 appearances and 5 starts, and had his finest performance in the team's victory over the

Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds is the rugby union team for the Australian state of Queensland that competes in the Southern Hemisphere's Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996, they were a representative team selected from the rugby union club competition ...

Rugby Park Stadium Rugby Park is a sports venue in Invercargill and the home ground for the Mitre 10 Cup and Southland. Rugby Park is located on the corner of Elles Road and Tweed Street. The ground has a regular season capacity of 18,000. It has a safe tempo ...

, scoring a crucial second half try - his first in Super Rugby - which sealed the victory. In the

2010 Super 14 season The 2010 Super 14 season kicked off in February 2010 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 29 May. The 2010 season was the fifth and last season of the expanded Super 14 format. The schedule, which covers 3½ months, fea ...

, Lynn was shifted to centre and emerged as a more central part of the squad, making 10 starts and scoring a further 2 tries, while impressing with his workrate and defensive play. He further built on this in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, playing every minute of every game for the Highlanders. A neck injury curtailed Lynn's

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

season, and he was limited to just two substitute appearances for the Highlanders. He used the off season to backpack around central and South America for 4 months with his wife, Rebecca. Upon returning to NZ he was called into the Chiefs squad and enjoyed being a part of their championship winning team of 2013.

Europe

Following the

2013 ITM Cup Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

, Lynn left New Zealand for France, signing with

of the

Pro D2 Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was in ...

competition. In his first year in Lyon, he scored 7 tries in 15 matches to help the club earn promotion to the

Rugby Sevens

In 2008 he was selected for the New Zealand Sevens team taking part in the

IRB Sevens World Series The World Rugby Men's Sevens Series is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the com ...

tournaments in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, which New Zealand won.

Coaching career

In 2016 Kendrick was asked to move into the staff as the Backs and Skills coach for Lyon in the Top 14. That year they achieved their goal of maintaining their position in the competition. The 2017 season the club continued its rise and after 8 rounds sat top of the table in the French league. The season finished with Lyon qualifying for the quarter finals in Toulon. Lyon - against all odds - pulled off a massive upset victory, securing an historic semi-final berth that was played at Groupama Stadium in Lyon verse Montpellier. Lynn has played a significant role in the development of a fast, free flowing attack which is capable of scoring at will and a tough, resolute defence.

External links

Highlanders Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynn, Kendrick 1982 births Living people New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand rugby union players Rugby union players from Tokoroa University of Otago alumni Sportspeople from Cambridge, New Zealand Southland rugby union players Highlanders (rugby union) players Bay of Plenty rugby union players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in France Male rugby sevens players Lyon OU Rugby players People educated at St Peter's School, Cambridge Rugby union players from Waikato