Lineen’s son hails impact of ‘passionate’ dad

Scotland rugby’s first Kilted Kiwi Sean Lineen has made a heartfelt tribute to his late All Black father Terry who was ‘‘a massive influence’’ on his rugby career.

Terry Lineen, who played 35 games – including 12 tests for the All Blacks from 1957 to 1960 – died in Auckland on Monday at the age of 84.

Son Sean, who played 29 tests for Scotland from 1989 to 1992, will return to New Zealand on Monday for his father’s funeral after he coaches Scotland’s under20 team against Italy in Calvisano tomorrow.

Sean Lineen, who played 78 games for Counties before moving to Scotland, shared his thoughts on his father’s passing in an interview with The Scotsman. He said he had grown up in Auckland in the mid-1960s

with All Blacks legends attending parties in the Lineen home and sharing Terry’s great love of Neil Diamond.

Sean, who played in Scotland’s Grand Slam-winning Five Nations team in 1990, was touched at the messages of condolences

he had received from former Scotland team-mates.

He said his dad was ‘‘a really passionate man – loved his sport, loved my wife [Lynne] and my two boys [rugby players Cameron and Jacob] and was really passionate about them’’.

‘‘A good guy, good fun, good humour – he had as many friends over here [in Scotland] as he had back in New Zealand.’’

Lineen said he had had emails and text messages from former Scotland team-mates John Jeffrey, Gavin and Scott Hastings – ‘‘who met him for a few beers down the years. That meant a lot’’.

Sean Lineen, 58, a former Glasgow Warriors head coach, played for the Bombay club in the Counties Manukau senior competition and met former team-mates on a visit to the club in 2014 while he was coaching Scotland at the under-20 World Cup tournament in New Zealand.