Sean Lineen (born 25 December 1961) is a former

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

international

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 it ...

player. He was a former Head Coach of

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

from 2006 to 2012. He was a Director for the

Scottish Rugby Union The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; gd, Aonadh Rugbaidh na h-Alba) is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Styled as Scottish Rugby, it is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league s ...

until December 2021.

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Lineen played as a

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 eccentri ...

. Originally from New Zealand, in the 1985–86 season he made his first journey to the UK, playing for Pontypool in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. In October 1988 he came to

and played for Boroughmuir.

Provincial career

He played for Edinburgh District. He has been awarded the freedom of the city of

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

. He played for the Blues Trial side against the Reds Trial side on 6 January 1990. The Blues won the match 45 - 4.

International career

He qualified to play for Scotland through his grandfather and made his international debut on 21 January 1989 against

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often con ...

aged 27. Lineen played at 29 times for

, He was a member of the notable Scottish

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

team of 1990.

Coaching career

After his playing career ended, Lineen became a coach at Boroughmuir and during his time there he guided the side to cup and league triumphs. From this, Lineen was appointed assistant coach at

for the start of the 2003–04 season. He later became a member of the Scotland national coaching team under

Frank Hadden Frank Hadden (born 14 June 1954) is a Scottish rugby union coach. He is a former head coach of Scotland and Edinburgh Rugby. Hadden replaced Matt Williams and was appointed on 15 September 2005. Hadden coached the Merchiston Castle School 1st ...

in the summer of 2005, coaching the backs. A previous player for Edinburgh District, Lineen had applied to be Head Coach of

Edinburgh Rugby Edinburgh Rugby (formerly Edinburgh Reivers, Edinburgh Gunners) is one of the two professional rugby union teams from Scotland. The club competes in the United Rugby Championship, along with the Glasgow Warriors, its oldest rival. Edinburgh pl ...

but the SRU insisted that the new coach of Edinburgh must already have experience as head coach. However, with

Hugh Campbell Hugh Campbell (born May 21, 1941) is a former American football and Canadian football player, coach, and executive. He served as a head coach in three different professional gridiron football leagues: the Canadian Football League (CFL), the Unit ...

stepping down as Head Coach of the Glasgow Warriors in 2006, Lineen was ideally placed as the Assistant Coach to then make the step up. On 28 March 2006 he was appointed Head Coach of

. He was coach of the Warriors for 6 years and started laying the foundation of the side that

Gregor Townsend Gregor Peter John Townsend, (born 26 April 1973) is a Scottish rugby union coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of the Scotland national team having previously been an assistant coach from 2009 to 2012. As a player, he won ...

would later build on. After coaching the Warriors, Lineen then coached the Scotland Under 20 side; and then moved on to coach London Scottish.

Administrative career

He was made a Head of International Age-Grade Rugby at the

. In 2016 he was made a Director of Rugby at London Scottish. He is now the Head of Player Acquisition at the

Business career

He ran the Scottish Rugby magazine while coaching with Boroughmuir.

Family

He is the son of rugby player Terry Lineen.

References

External links

Glasgow Warriors announce new head coach
– Glasgow Warriors official page, 28 March 2006
Lineen is the logical successor after Williams debacle
– The Scotsman, 27 March 2005
Sean Lineen on Sporting Heroes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lineen, Sean 1961 births Living people Scottish rugby union players Scotland international rugby union players Scottish rugby union coaches People associated with Edinburgh New Zealand people of Scottish descent Boroughmuir RFC players Rugby union players from Auckland Glasgow Warriors coaches Scottish rugby union commentators Edinburgh District (rugby union) players Pontypool RFC players Blues Trial players