Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has stated that the team spirit which is present in rugby would be a welcome addition to the game of football.
Wenger, who trained the Gunners in the presence of the France Rugby World Cup team this week, cites team spirit as a component of rugby that he would like to see become commonplace in football, but disagrees with the notion that footballers are softer on the field than rugby players.
"If you want to play, you have first to be together. That is a quality. I love team sport and maybe nowhere better than in rugby. A team has first to be a team before they go out there, and I think as well in the modern world it is something very interesting that you still maintain that," Wenger told reporters.
"There are things in every sport that we can learn from them, but football has a reputation for softness that is not true.
"They are hit hard in rugby and you are frightened sometimes, but in football it is very painful to be kicked in the ankle. There are a lot of kicks that hurt. It is not that they are soft, it is different pains."
Arsenal travel to Leicester to take on Claudio Ranieri's Foxes outfit on Saturday.
Colm Hayes
