Club at centre of tug of war between England and Wales addresses wing’s Test future

Exeter Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter insists that they will not attempt to influence Immanuel Feyi-Waboso as he decides his international future.

The wing sensation, who joined Exeter from Wasps in 2022, has impressed throughout the 2023/24 campaign and could well feature in the upcoming Six Nations.

Feyi-Waboso is eligible for both England and Wales, and hinted last week that he has been contacted by at least one of those countries with a view to representing them.

Reaction after stunning performance

Following his man of the match display against Bristol Bears in the Premiership, the back three starlet was asked whether he had been in touch with either England or Wales ahead of the Six Nations.

He took a long pause before chuckling and finally stating: “I don’t know, I don’t know.”

“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.”

Feyi-Waboso is enjoying a breakthrough campaign in a young Chiefs side that have very much put themselves in the Premiership play-off picture.

Exeter currently reside in second place, one point off leaders Northampton Saints, and the wing has played a huge part in their improvement this season.

“All he has got to do is play rugby and get experience, and the world is his oyster then,” Baxter said.

“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.”

Career path

Feyi-Waboso was born in Wales, speaks with a strong Welsh accent and came through Cardiff’s academy, but moved to the Premiership in 2022 after signing with Wasps.

Following the Midlanders’ demise, the 21-year-old was then picked up by Exeter and has put himself in the Test frame with his displays this season.

“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,” Baxter added.

“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.”

READ MORE: Wales and England battle it out for wing sensation ahead of Six Nations