Marthinus "Tinus" Linee (23 August 1969 – 3 November 2014) was a South African

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

player. Linee played predominantly at

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. He played all his provincial rugby for

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

. He represented Western Province and the

Stormers The Stormers (known for sponsorship reasons as the DHL Stormers) and the academic team DHL Stormers is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a tra ...

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

. He played nine tour games for the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabhokobhoko) is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

between 1993 and 1994, but never played in a test for South Africa.

Youth

Linee attended Nederburg Primary School along with his future wife, Diana. Both former Springbok player

Chester Williams Chester Mornay Williams (8 August 1970 – 6 September 2019) was a South African rugby union player. He played as a winger for the South Africa national rugby union team (Springboks) from 1993 to 2000, most notably for the team that won the 19 ...

and former Springbok coach

Peter de Villiers Peter de Villiers (born 3 June 1957) is a South African professional rugby union coach and former Good Party politician. He was coach of the South Africa national rugby union team from 2008 to 2011, after successes with the South African U19 ...

attended Nederburg Primary.

Playing career

Provincial

Linee made his debut for Western Province in 1992 and played 112 games for the province until his retirement in 2001. Renowned as a hard-hitting centre, he was a regular starter in the midfield for Western Province. In 2001, future Springbok captain

Jean de Villiers Jean de Villiers (born 24 February 1981) is a South African former professional rugby union player. He started his career at wing, but played most of his career as an inside centre. De Villiers previously played for Western Province in th ...

made his Western Province debut alongside Tinus Linee. On 14 October 1995 Linee played in his first

Currie Cup The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...

final, against the at

Kings Park Stadium Kings Park Stadium (known as Hollywoodbets Kings Park for sponsorship reasons since 2022), colloquially known as the Shark Tank, is a stadium located in the Kings Park Sporting Precinct in Durban, South Africa. The stadium was originally built ...

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

. Linee played alongside Springbok and Western Province legends such as Pieter Rossouw,

, Justin Swart,

Joel Stransky Joel Theodore Stransky (born 16 July 1967) is a South African former rugby union player. A fly-half, he is known for scoring all of South Africa's points, including the winning drop goal, against New Zealand in the 1995 Rugby World Cup final ...

and Tiaan Strauss as well as

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

legend Laurent Cabannes. The Sharks won the game 25–17. Linee was also part of the Western Province squad when they won Currie Cup titles in 1997, 2000 and 2001.

Super Rugby

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

Tinus Linee was part of the Western Province team that competed in the

Super 12 Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

. Western Province failed to qualify for the

1997 Super 12 season The 1997 Super 12 season was the second season of the Super Rugby, Super 12, contested by rugby union teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from 28 February to 31 May 1997, with each team playing all the others once. ...

and Linee was not part of the squad when the Stormers played in the

1998 Super 12 season The 1998 Super 12 season was the third season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 1998, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular seas ...

. In

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, he returned to the

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

based Super Rugby team's squad, but failed to make the Stormers' Super Rugby squads in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

South Africa

In 1993 Linee was picked for the Springboks on their tour to Australia. He made his debut for the Springboks in a tour match against the Victoria national rugby union team in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

on 21 July 1993. At the time,

Heinrich Füls Heinrich Theodor Füls (born 8 March 1971) is a South African former rugby union player. Playing career Füls made his provincial debut for Transvaal in 1992. He also played for Eastern Province, Western Province and the Border Bulldogs in ...

and Pieter Muller were the preferred centres for the test matches, so Linee played only in tour games and failed to make the team for the test matches. In 1994 Linee again made the Springbok squad for both the

Argentinean Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

tour to South Africa as well as the Springbok tour to , and . He again did not feature in any of the test matches and on 22 November 1994, he played his last tour match for the Springboks against

Pontypridd Pontypridd ( , ), Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as ''Ponty'', is a town and a Community (Wales), community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre. Geography Pontypridd comprises the ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Coaching career

In 2008 Linee formed part of Western Province's

Vodacom Cup The Vodacom Cup was an annual rugby union competition in South Africa. Annual Vodacom Cup competitions were played between its inaugural season in 1998 and 2015 and was contested between February and May each year. The Vodacom Cup was the succes ...

team management. In 2012 he was assistant coach at RCM Universitatea Timişoara in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

alongside head coach and former Springbok teammate,

. While being the assistant coach in 2012, RCM Universitatea Timişoara won the SuperLiga CEC Bank, Romania's main domestic rugby competition.

Honours

Playing career

;

: 1997, 2000, 2001

Coaching career

; RCM Universitatea Timişoara * SuperLiga CEC Bank: 2012

Health and death

In April 2013, Linee was diagnosed with

motor neurone disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and low ...

. His deteriorating health resulted in him having financial difficulties in an attempt to cover his medical costs. This resulted in him auctioning off his Springbok and Western Province blazers to raise money. South African fans organised and contributed to several fundraisers to assist him and his family financially. The introduction of a ventilator in April 2014, meant that his condition remained stable without deteriorating. His hands, however, remained virtually paralysed. Linee died on 3 November 2014, aged 45 in his family home in Paarl. He was survived by his wife Diana, her two sons, and a daughter from his first marriage.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Linee, Tinus 1969 births 2014 deaths Deaths from motor neuron disease in South Africa Rugby union players from Paarl South African rugby union coaches South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Rugby union centres Western Province (rugby union) players Stormers players

Youth

Playing career

Provincial

Super Rugby

South Africa

Coaching career

Honours

Playing career

Coaching career

Health and death

See also

References

External links