Alex Corbisiero keen to play South Africa – Rugby News Update
Alex Corbisiero, the 23-year-old New York born England prop is relishing the tour of South Africa and wants to test his abilities against a strong southern hemisphere team.
Stuart Lancaster, the head coach of England takes his nation to South Africa, for a three-match summer test series against the Springboks, alongside two other mid-week games on tour.
Speaking about testing his abilities against the very best, he said, "To do it again against a team like South Africa is going to be a massive challenge but we're just going to control what we can control, prepare as best we can and go out there and give
them the best competition we can."
Having the physique of a contemporary prop, the 23-year-old was part of the England squad that had a disappointing 2011 Rugby World Cup, but his performances at the tournament were one of the bright spots in a regretful tournament for England. However, under
the new management of Lancaster he retained his place for the 2012 Six Nations tournament, and he has been included in the squad that tours South Africa.
Speaking about his experience at the World Cup, Corbisiero believes that it was amazing and helped him grow as a player, because he was up against veterans who have been around the circuit for a long time.
Commenting on the Six Nations, his most memorable match was against Ireland.
"Ireland was a big test, especially for the pack and the front row," he recalled. "We found a weakness in their game on that day and went to expose it. We built from there, the crowd got involved and it felt like it demoralised them a bit.”
Corbisiero was introduced to rugby at the young age of five by his American father. Having represented England U18, U19, U20 and Saxons, he got his debut against Italy at Twickenham, on February 12, 2011. His impressive performances earned him a place in
the 2011 World Cup squad, and he has gone from strength to strength since then. He has played for England 15 times so far, starting 11 of those games, and coming on as a substitute 4 times.
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