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Anthony Watson's take on 'explosive' Immanuel Feyi-Waboso cameo
A combined total of three minutes of action over the course of the opening two rounds of Guinness Six Nations action is not ideal for any player wishing to showcase their talents.
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After coming on for his England debut against Italy in round one, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso was an unused substitute a week later against Wales at Twickenham, as Steve Borthwick’s side sought to cling on to their slender leads on both occasions.
But with England’s attack flatlining in Edinburgh on Saturday to a point where it had ground to a state of inertia, the Exeter Chiefs wing was granted more time to try and resuscitate his side – a whole 20 minutes – and the 21-year-old delivered.
As far as cameos go to stake a claim to start for England, Feyi-Waboso’s could not have gone any better, as he carved through Scotland’s defence for a try within minutes of coming on. Combined with a series of punchy carries at Murrayfield, it was a cameo that England’s most capped player Ben Youngs feels put the winger “in the conversation” to start against Ireland in round four of the Championship.
The scrum-half discussed Feyi-Waboso’s performance on his For the Love of Rugby podcast, saying he was “really impressed” with him.
Match Summary 
3
Penalty Goals
2
3
Tries
2
3
Conversions
1
0
Drop Goals
1
86
Carries
102
4
Line Breaks
4
15
Turnovers Lost
22
6
Turnovers Won
8
Youngs was joined by Anthony Watson on the podcast, who has been in the England camp for rehabilitation this Six Nations. The winger said how his teammate “looked really good”, particularly as it is hard to impose yourself on a game from the wing.
“You’ll never forget your first try,” the Leicester Tigers winger said.
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“Manny will be loving it. It’s obviously gutting that you’re part of a team that loses on the day, but to come out there as a winger – what did he get, 15, 20 minutes? – and score. Even the confidence to call for the ball when you’ve got two caps and you’re coming on off the bench in a losing team, I think shows the type of bloke that he is. Fair play to him.”
Youngs added: “I liked it. Because [Cameron] Redpath was defending around the ruck, and Ben Spencer has a great little show and go around the ruck. He’ll know that playing together at Bath. So he can’t leave it, and [Feyi-Waboso] comes around the corner steaming onto it and he’s a powerful lad. He picks his hole, he’s committed to it, and a lovely little lay-up by Benny Spencer.
“I was really impressed with him. He’s probably put his hand up to, certainly in the conversation, because you look at him and you’re thinking ‘he looked great’. It will be interesting to see what they do against Ireland, but I was really impressed with him. I thought he had a great impact, and that’s all you can do as a finisher. And as a winger it’s hard.”
Watson responded: “It’s really hard, because you don’t want to force yourself into the game. I think that’s where, as a winger particularly, you start forcing it, getting your hands on the ball. And that’s where errors start happening and it looks clunky. So to come on and seamlessly fit in and also score a try and look explosive I think is testament to him. Ball in hand he looked strong, didn’t get caught behind the gainline once, always making yards. He looked really good.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
Big empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
34 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to comments