Rugby: Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel likens club's culture to All Blacks

Peter Schmeichel with the Champions League trophy that Manchester United won in 1999. Photo / Getty

The All Blacks' winning culture has been likened to that of Manchester United by one of the legendary football club's greatest players.

Goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel won 15 major trophies with the Red Devils, and was part of the famous side that claimed the treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in 1998-99.

Speaking to Newstalk ZB's Jason Pine, Schmeichel revealed he had read the book Legacy, which details the reasons behind the All Blacks' sustained success.

"I read the book and I was very intrigued and a little bit jealous about how structured the culture is and how understanding everybody is once they get into that space," said Schmeichel.

"Rugby is a little bit different to football; the movement in rugby teams is slower than the movement in football teams, in terms of players coming in and leaving. It's difficult to build that kind of structure at a football club.

"But there were a lot of similarities and things I could recognise from my time at Manchester United."

Schmeichel joined Manchester United from Danish club Brondby FC in 1991, in what manager Sir Alex Ferguson later described as "the bargain of the century". United were five-time Premier League champions during his success-laden eight seasons at the club, culminating in the iconic 2-1 win over Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League final.

With time almost up and United 1-0 down, Schmeichel joined the attack for an injury-time corner, causing confusion which led to Teddy Sheringham's equaliser. Moments later, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored the winner, with Schmeichel captured on camera cart-wheeling gleefully in his penalty area.

The Manchester United teams Schmeichel played in were full of global superstars, including David Beckham, Roy Keane, Eric Cantona, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Dwight Yorke and Gary Neville, with Ferguson at the helm. But the towering Dane believes the tight dressing room culture contributed to their success, just as it has with the All Blacks.

"A lot of it isn't rocket science," he said. "They're simple thoughts about how you are, how you understand yourself and how you behave in that environment. It's a really difficult thing to manage, but it's been absolutely brilliant for [the All Blacks].

"It's much more difficult when it comes to football, but I think we came close to it."