Steve Borthwick’s England squad were visited by a high-profile guest this past training week, as Premier League winning captain Vincent Kompany took a trip down to Pennyhill Park.
Borthwick gave Harlequins scrum half Danny Care the honour of interviewing Kompany, with the visit documented on the England Rugby Inside Line programme. Kompany joined Manchester City in 2008, and spent eleven years at the Etihad Stadium, eight of those as captain.
A true leader, the Belgian took City to their first four Premier League titles, amongst a whole host of additional silverware. The former centre back hung up his boots at the end of the 2019/20 season, retiring with his boyhood club Anderlecht.
After stepping away from the pitch, the 37-year-old has taken coaching in his stride, earning promotion into the Premier League with Burnley during his first season in charge. Kompany inspired the England players by discussing the importance of hard work longevity, and how to remain at the top of your game for a decorated career.
Care recalled all of Kompany’s accomplishments on and off the pitch, ending his introduction with “this man is a winner boys.” Care and fellow England scrum half Ben Youngs, regarded Kompany as one of the best guest speakers they had listened to at an England camp, with the Burnley manager presented with a signed England jersey at the end of the talk.
“I was blown away by how impressive he spoke. 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 (Burnley) could do it, in what of his first seasons as a manager is incredible.”
“He gave us an unbelievable presentation didn’t he, 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, I thought that he was great.” Care said.
Ben Youngs added: “I could really understand and relate to what he was saying, and the bits of which he spoke about. Consistency and hard work essentially, other people fall to the side, and I suppose, to do what we’ve done for that long, that consistency and hard work, people come and they’ve gone. And here we (Youngs and Care) are, us two are still sat here.”