Exeter break silence on Immanuel Feyi-Waboso's international future
Exeter rugby director Rob Baxter says there will be no pressure from the Chiefs about where Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s potential international career should lie.
The uncapped 21-year-old, who is qualified to represent Wales and England at Test level, could conceivably feature during this season’s Guinness Six Nations Championship.
Wales boss Warren Gatland and his England counterpart Steve Borthwick will undoubtedly have noted Feyi-Waboso’s blistering form, showcased by tries in recent Gallagher Premiership games against Newcastle and Bristol.
Borthwick watched from the Ashton Gate stands as the Exeter wing repeatedly threatened Bristol’s defence and further enhanced a box-office reputation.
Gatland, meanwhile, will announce his Six Nations squad in just over a fortnight’s time, with Cardiff-born Feyi-Waboso thought to be firmly on the New Zealander’s radar.
He has agreed a new long-term Exeter deal, while he has also embarked on medical studies at the city’s university.
“He knows there is no pressure from us,” Baxter said.
“Obviously, I am English and I support England. If he picks England, great.
“But we never put any pressure on (Wales forwards) Dafydd Jenkins or Christ Tshiunza. They came to us without being capped, and there has never been a pressure element from us about where their career should lie.
“There won’t be any pressure from us. Those will be decisions Manny will make for himself.”
Baxter is already a member of the Feyi-Waboso fan club, seeing him flourish following his arrival from Wasps after the Coventry-based club went into administration.
“All he has got to do is play rugby and get experience, and the world is his oyster then,” Baxter added.
“His rugby career will be what he chooses it to be. The opportunities are going to be there for him if he works hard at his game.
“The reality is he will need to stay relatively injury-free for periods, he will need to get a decent amount of game-time for periods, he will need to balance his studying with his rugby programme as he goes along and not get burnt out by one or the other, so there is a long way to go.
“We’ve had with him us for a year or so now, so he is not a complete novice, but in Premiership terms he is.
“The good thing about him is he is keen to get better. He doesn’t look like a guy who suffers a lot with nerves and pressure.
“He is relatively chilled-out, and when it comes all together he is just going to grow and become a very, very good player.
“He has got great pace, strength and balance. He half-missed a tackle in training and started to do a back-roll, and as he rolled over he did a hand-spring off the floor and landed on his feet.
“You look at it and go ‘how have you just done that?’ But he doesn’t even know how he has done it, he is just a very gifted athlete in a lot of ways.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
40 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
41 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
41 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
41 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
40 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
1 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig 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.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 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.
4 Go to comments