Burnley boss Vincent Kompany opens up on visit to England's rugby union side

The Burnley boss paid a visit to Steve Borthwick’s pre-World Cup squad last month to provide a presentation.

Danny Care and fellow scrum-half Ben Youngs have since revealed Kompany was one of the best guest speakers they’ve ever had at an England camp – before presenting the Belgian with a signed England jersey at the end of the talk.

“I was blown away by how impressive he spoke,” Care said. “The kind of bloke that he is, the standards that he’s setting.

“To do it as a player, but then to go into a coaching setting and blow away the Championship when no-one thought they could do it, in one of his first seasons as a manager is incredible.

“He gave us an unbelievable presentation on what he expects of his players and it was a quiet room. Everyone was listening in, one of the best speakers I’ve ever heard from.”

Kompany has since opened up on what he learned from the visit in an interview with the Daily Mail.

“That rugby culture is something for any sport to strive for,” he said.

“They’ve got really big lads who – if they wouldn’t accept what you told them as a coach – you’d be in trouble.

“But they’ve got their own values that helps them almost police themselves and the respect is at the forefront of everything you see.

“They have very good innovation, you see a lot of new ideas being thrown around the building and you also try and implement those ideas, which is always the most difficult thing to do.

“But going to spend some time with them, what I really like is the tempo to the sessions and the intensity. These people are always getting ready for something tough, something physical, something that might hurt them. But they go through it and pick each other up every time.”

When asked what other sport he’d like to experience, Kompany said: “I’m split between basketball and American football. I might go and do both, maybe in the next international break I might find some time.

“I promised myself I was going to do it, but I was far too busy and never managed to do it.”