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'I cringe thinking about it': Feyi-Waboso on the incident that left him sweating
By Neil Fissler
Asked how he would describe 2025, Manny Feyi-Waboso said with a huge smile on his face, “A big learning experience is how I’d sum it up.” And it is easy to see why.
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The Exeter and England winger began the year with a delayed shoulder operation, which caused friction between club and country, as the Chiefs had wanted it done a month earlier. It also cost him a likely place on the Lions tour.
The 22-year-old medical student from Cardiff was then sent off on his comeback for England A against France A. He caught Antoine Hastoy on the head with a swinging right arm, making an attempted tackle and was suspended for both of the Tests on the senior tour to Argentina.
Feyi-Waboso later suffered a hamstring injury in pre-season training, but has been nothing but a revelation since returning for the Chiefs in their PREM Rugby opener against Northampton Saints.
He scored a brace of tries in the 33-33 draw at Franklin’s Gardens before following it up with a hat-trick against Newcastle Red Bulls last weekend in his first home appearance for the Chiefs since December.
“It’s so good to be back. It helps you remember how good it is. It’s crazy. That’s my first hat-trick. Maybe time off has helped me. Everything has been really cool since I’ve come back,” he said.
“Obviously, that was my first proper long-term injury as a professional rugby player. It was tough. It ended up being a long, long time – way longer than anyone anticipated. It was six months, or whatever it was.
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“It’s been good for my shoulder. It’s had time to rest. It’s now about time to get back to match fitness. Obviously, I was cramping in the first game, but now I’m feeling way better. I’ve had my first 80 minutes. It’s good.”
Reflecting on the red card that spoiled his comeback game, he said: “That was so completely self-inflicted, so dumb. I thought he was going to kick it, he shaped to kick it, and I ended up going higher, and then he went into me.
“As soon as it happened, you can look back at it, and I cringe thinking about it. I guess you should just go lower regardless and maybe aim for the foot anyway.
“I was gutted after that. It was so dumb. Hopefully, I’ve learned important lessons from that. But luckily enough, Steve (Borthwick) still took me on tour. I was like “woooaahhhh”.
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“I was so happy he did. He didn’t have to do it because I missed the two Argentina Tests, but still managed to play against the USA. I was so grateful to still be taken on that tour.
“I didn’t read into it too much. I was just like, ‘Thank you so much for taking me. ‘ He didn’t have to take me at all and could easily have chosen someone who was available for every game. It means a lot that he took me,” he added.
While Feyi-Waboso was on the sidelines, Paul Brown Bampoe seized his chance, and they now form one of the most potent wing partnerships in the Premiership, and there is healthy competition between them in training.
“It’s definitely healthy competition. When I was out and was seeing Paul fly, it was actually crazy. It was obviously tough to watch from the sidelines because we were losing.
But watching Paul do so well was amazing. Watching on, I was just like, “Give the ball to Paul. Give it to him. Give it to him.” In training, we do a lot of reps together to help each other.
“Yes, we’re fighting for the same position, but we both play and want each other to get better. It’s really good.”
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