Cape Town - Saturday’s Super Rugby clash at Newlands will be a chance to raise funds for ex-Springbok Tinus Linee, who was diagnosed with motor neuron disease last month.
The rare, deadly illness has a previous link with the sport, with fellow Bok Joost van der Westhuizen diagnosed in 2011.
This weekend there will be bucket collections for Linee at Newlands, as the languishing Stormers try to rattle the cages of wildcard favourites and Australian conference contenders, the Reds.
Western Province Rugby Football Union president Thelo Wakefield called for Stormers and Western Province fans to show support for Linee, 43, who played 112 matches at centre for Western Province between 1992 and 2001.
“He will be remembered as a loyal player with a no-nonsense approach to defence, as displayed by his bone-crunching tackles,” said the union on Thursday.
He also made his Springbok debut in 1993, at 23, and went on to play nine tour matches for his country in Australia, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
Wakefield said it wasn’t just about helping the player now.
“It’s about his wife and the future too. We are hoping to raise as much as possible on the day of the Reds match, but we also have a few other events planned in his honour, to help him and his wife.”
Linee’s wife said last month he was taking everything day by day.
Motor neuron disease slowly destroys parts of the nervous system that control functions such as speaking, walking, swallowing and even breathing.
She said while he could still put on his own clothes and move around the house, he was struggling with his speech and had become very difficult to understand.
But she was thankful for the support from the rugby fraternity.
Springbok centre Jean de Villiers looked back fondly at games he had played alongside Linee in his 2001 Vodacom Cup debut.
“I remember the first warm-up game, he tackled Boland centre WP Strauss so hard that he did a 360-degree somersault.”
“That was my first professional game,” said Strauss. “That was the hardest hit I ever took – I’m just proud I was able to get up from that. Tinus is a legend.”
Tickets are still available for Saturday’s match and can be bought from the Newlands ticket office, PostNet outlets and online.
Cape Argus