Arsene Wenger: I could have been a rugby star

Legendary Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. Photo / Getty

Arsene Wegner loves rugby and says he could have been a star at the game.

The long-serving manager of English football giants Arsenal says he is really enjoying watching Rugby's World Cup play out in front of him in the United Kingdom -- and even says the round-ball game could learn from its oval ball counterpart.

Wegner might seem like the last man in football you'd expect to have a penchant for rugby but he revealed this week that he's something of a fan.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday afternoon, the Arsenal manager said: "I love rugby. I would probably be a fly-half if I played."

He confirmed that a few of the tournament's rugby stars have come to watch Arsenal train before revealing that he enjoyed a meal with the French team and their coaching staff on Monday night:

"I had a chat with them after dinner. Many of them they love football. In France, rugby was mainly in the south-west but it has moved now and it is becoming a popular sport. In Paris you have two or three clubs as well. Before it was only in the south-west, in Paris you had nothing."

Wenger also revealed that he would love to go and watch France play in the World Cup and considers French rugby a lot like the English Premier League given the amount of foreign players it attracts. He was typically astute on the difference between football and rugby.

"In football, the influence of an individual player is greater than in rugby because, at the end of the day, Messi still makes a difference when it comes to a top level game."

The key question, though, are football players soft compared to their rugby opposites?

"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."

Wegner's bitter coaching enemy, Chelsea's Jose Mourinho watched the All Blacks play Argentina at Wembley.