North and Corbisiero celebrate Lions success Saints-style

George North has revealed Alex Corbisiero ran over to him shouting ‘Northampton Saints!’ after the Welshman’s try for the Lions on Saturday.
LIONS ROAR - Alex Corbisiero embraces Saints team-mate George NorthLIONS ROAR - Alex Corbisiero embraces Saints team-mate George North
LIONS ROAR - Alex Corbisiero embraces Saints team-mate George North

England prop Corbisiero was first on the scene after North crossed the whitewash for a crucial try during the second half of the Lions’ third Test win against Australia.

It was the moment the series victory looked certain as the Lions surged into a 34-16 lead, eventually winning the game 41-16 and edging the three-Test contest 2-1.

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And Corbisiero couldn’t hide his joy at seeing his new Northampton team-mate – the pair have joined Saints from London Irish and Scarlets respectively this summer – touch down.

“Alex Corbisiero will be my team-mate at Northampton next season and when I scored my try he ran over shouting ‘Northampton Saints!’,” North told the Daily Mail.

“It is great to have that bond before you head into a new club.”

The Lions had been slight underdogs for the final Test as they had suffered an agonising 16-15 defeat to the Wallabies in Melbourne the week before.

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But there was to be no such success for the home team in Sydney and wing North, who was one of the stars of the tour, played his part in a rampant showing, led by Corbisiero and Co up front.

“From a backs point of view, it was like playing a rugby match in heaven when you have a platform like our scrum to play off,” said North.

“The guys were unbelievable; the whole boiler house did an awesome job for us.

“The first 20 minutes went ballistically fast but as the game wore on it got slower because the pace changed and they fought back.

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“Australia were so hot in the contact zone once again so our priority was to look after the pill. All the backs, especially in the wide areas, had a duty to take care of the ball and it worked very well.

“In open play your shirt number is irrelevant. If contact needs to be hit, or a threat needs to be taken away, you have to do it. It’s a split-second decision: do I need to take him out? If not, I can be an extra man out wide.

“Finally, in the last Test we showed how we always envisaged playing out here and it felt great to play some sexy rugby.

“After two months together we really clicked in those final 30 minutes.”