Prop Alex Corbisiero believes England can emulate Team GB’s performance at the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics and thrive on the nation’s support at the World Cup on home soil this year.
The 26-year-old, who played in two Test matches for the British & Irish Lions as they beat Australia in 2013, will fight for a front-row berth when England begin their quest to qualify from Pool A – which includes Wales – in September.
And, having seen how Sir Bradley Wiggins, Mo Farah and Jonnie Peacock et al performed with the swell in national support, Corbisiero is hopeful of a similar effect.
“I feel we will thrive on being at home and having the nation behind us, similar to, hopefully, 2012 when the London Olympics were on,” he told the Press Association.
“The GB athletes in 2012 had a lot of expectation on them, but they thrived under that pressure and that support of the nation, and hopefully we will be able to replicate something very similar.
“We are in a good place. We are under no illusions of how hard it is going to be and the challenges ahead of us, but at the same time morale is high and the competitiveness is very high.
“It’s a good, positive environment, and at the same time a very hard environment because we are working very hard physically and mentally to get the edge and put ourselves in the best position possible.”
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