Botched Handling Of Immanuel Feyi-Waboso Surgery Sparks Row Between Exeter Chiefs And England

The saga over England winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s surgery has caused tension between club and country – and severely delayed the player’s recovery.

Ahead of England’s Calcutta Cup clash with Scotland on Saturday, a lot of attention has been on Feyi-Waboso’s shoulder injury.

The 22-year-old dislocated his shoulder playing for Premiership club Exeter Chiefs in December.

Originally, it was announced that he would have an operation and miss the Six Nations with England.

But in recent weeks, reports suggested that Feyi-Waboso was instead rehabilitating the injury conservatively.

This meant England were hopeful the speedster may return before the end of the tournament, but this is no longer the case.

On Wednesday, the Daily Mail first reported that the winger would now be having surgery after all – around two months later than first planned.

Due to the delay, Feyi-Waboso will now miss the rest of the season for Exeter, and is unlikely to be fit in time for British & Irish Lions selection ahead of their summer tour to Australia.

The drawn-out and delayed fiasco has allegedly frustrated Exeter, with the club said to be unhappy with the situation.

Exeter Frustrated At Immanuel Feyi-Waboso Surgery Delay

A statement released by Exeter Chiefs hinted at this frustration.

It read:  ‘The player – who is on one of England Rugby’s enhanced EPS contracts – suffered a shoulder dislocation in December 2024. Having consulted the medical teams at England and Exeter Chiefs, Feyi-Waboso originally attempted to rehabilitate the injury.

“However, he suffered a reinjury in England camp and has now elected to undergo surgery. Feyi-Waboso will now enter a recovery period, expected to be a minimum of 12-14 weeks.”

That recovery timeline means Feyi-Waboso will not be back in contention until at least the end of May, with Exeter’s final Premiership game on 31 May.

This gives the winger next to no chance of making the Lions tour, even if his rehab goes perfectly.

England Defend Handling Of Feyi-Waboso Injury

England attack coach Richard Wigglesworth sympathised with the young winger’s situation, but argued England acted correctly.

He said: “He came in for the test because we needed to make sure he was going to be right, so he got tested properly. It wasn’t right, so then the surgery option came. It was injured on re-testing.

“Part of being a professional rugby player is that you have to deal with these things. There’s not many players that get a smooth career without the bumps and bruises. But knowing Manny as we do, he’ll be diligent, he’ll get back, and we’ll look forward to when he is.”