Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has had surgery on a facial injury and will miss Exeter’s final regular-season Premiership Rugby match against Saracens on Saturday. The 23-year-old was hurt in Exeter’s win at Leicester last week, leaving England and his club waiting on how quickly he can get back on the field.
That matters now because Saturday could decide more than Exeter’s own season. If Saracens win, they will take a play-off place at the Chiefs’ expense, and Exeter will have to finish the league without one of their most dangerous backs. Feyi-Waboso, meanwhile, remains on course in England’s view to face South Africa on 4 July in Johannesburg.
The injury came in the 52nd minute of Exeter’s victory over Leicester, when Feyi-Waboso made a thumping tackle on Ollie Hassell-Collins. By full-time, the right side of his face was visibly swollen. Exeter later said the decision to send him for surgery was made after extensive monitoring by the Chiefs’ medical team and investigative scans carried out in partnership with England Rugby.
It is another interruption for a player whose recent seasons have been split by injury. Feyi-Waboso missed the Six Nations after a hamstring problem while training with England in early February, and he also sat out the second half of last season because of a shoulder injury. England medical staff are confident he will be ready for the South Africa Test, but that confidence comes with a catch: if he does not feature for Exeter against Saracens, he could reach that match after more than a month without game time.
England are unlikely to risk him in a warm-up fixture against a France XV on 18 June if Exeter fail to make the Premiership final, which would leave his next appearance for club or country hanging on recovery rather than rhythm. After South Africa, England are scheduled to face Fiji in Liverpool on 11 July and Argentina in Santiago del Estero seven days later, but for now the immediate question is simpler. Exeter need to know whether they must finish their league season without Feyi-Waboso, and England need to know whether a winger they rate as fit can also be match-ready.
