Corbisiero: I will be back soon
England prop Alex Corbisiero has stressed fears for his long-term future are misplaced after insisting his latest knee injury is not related to the one he suffered last season.
The front row forward has all but ruled himself out of England's opening end-of-year international against Australia at Twickenham on Saturday after twisting his left knee playing for Northampton just over a fortnight ago.
But the 25-year-old loosehead expects to be fit to face Argentina at Twickenham on November 9.
Corbisiero missed last season's Six Nations with a tight knee problem and was said to have "degenerative knee issues" by Brian Smith, the director of rugby at his former club, London Irish.
However, he returned for England's June tour of Argentina and subsequently starred for the British and Irish Lions against Australia.
When Corbisiero damaged his left knee in Northampton's 19-13 European Cup defeat at Castres, it was suggested he'd aggravated an existing injury,
Corbisiero, though, was adamant it was nothing more than a routine knock.
"This latest problem is just bad luck really – it's on my other knee that I haven't had any issues on for a long time," he said.
"It was scanned and there was nothing serious, but we're progressing cautiously to ensure there are no further issues.
"This is unrelated to the problem I had last year and hopefully it should be cleared up soon."
* Meanwhile Rob Webber of Bath and Henry Thomas of Sale Sharks were added to the England squad as cover for Dylan Hartley (ankle) and David Wilson (calf).
The players will met up at Pennyhill Park on Sunday ahead of the Test against Australia at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday, November 2.
England squad:
Forwards: David Attwood (Bath), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Alex Corbisiero (Northampton Saints), Tom Johnson (Exeter Chiefs), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), Matt Kvesic (Gloucester), Joe Launchbury (London Wasps), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Ben Morgan (Gloucester), Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Henry Thomas (Sale Sharks), Billy Vunipola (Saracens), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Rob Webber (Bath), David Wilson (Bath), Tom Wood (Northampton Saints), Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers).
Backs: Chris Ashton (Saracens), Mike Brown (Harlequins), Freddie Burns (Gloucester), Luther Burrell (Northampton Saints), Danny Care (Harlequins), Lee Dickson (Northampton Saints), Kyle Eastmond (Bath), Owen Farrell (Saracens), Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers), Ben Foden (Northampton Saints), Alex Goode (Saracens), Henry Trinder (Gloucester), Joel Tomkins (Saracens), Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester), Christian Wade (London Wasps), Marland Yarde (London Irish), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers).
AFP
