The England prop was ecstatic in victory and more modestly gratified with his own sensational performance at the climax of a season of injury woe.
His London Irish coach, Brian Smith, questioned whether Corbisiero’s dicky knee would ever come right.
But here was a definitive answer on as grand an occasion as rugby can provide.
With relief, he is off to Northampton next season.
“It’s been a tough year and this has been the perfect way to end it,†he said. “But I’ve always known what I am capable of when I get it right and I’m fit and healthy.
“I’m really looking forward to pushing on with Saints so I can carry on where I’ve just left off. It definitely wasn’t easy for me battling back to fitness, but there was always light at the end of the tunnel.
“Anyone who wants to doubt me, have a look now and see where I’m at. And I’m going to kick on from here.â€
This was a thinly veiled dig at Smith, the former England attack coach who was back home in Sydney to watch the deciding Test, for suggesting at one point during last season the Corbisiero knee injury was so chronic it might end up being impossible to cure. If that was designed to head off the Northampton move, it failed.
Smith, like England, had virtually no use out of the player last season and could be excused annoyance for losing a key member of the Exiles’ leadership group. Corbisiero did, at last, return for London Irish’s final three Premiership games. Though they were too late for Gatland to initially select him for this tour, they were enough to persuade England coach Stuart Lancaster to play him against the Barbarians five weeks ago and then take him to Argentina.
England star Alex Corbisiero is the Lions prop idol
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