England: Immanuel Feyi-Waboso injury update issued as timeframe revealed
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (right) missed the Six Nations campaign with a hamstring injury, but is nearing a return to action
England international Immanuel Feyi-Waboso is nearing a return to full fitness, in a welcome boost for both the Exeter Chiefs and Steve Borthwick, looking towards the Nations Championship.
The 23-year-old winger was initially named in Borthwick’s 36-man squad for the recent Six Nations, but suffered a hamstring injury in the build-up to their opening Test against Wales and subsequently missed the rest of the campaign.
Major injuries are nothing new for the former Wasps and Cardiff ace, who missed the second half of last season with a dislocated shoulder, but had made a strong return to the pitch this campaign with nine tries in 13 appearances for Exeter and two tries in four Tests for England back in November.
‘We’re getting into that end stage now’
There were initial fears his latest hamstring injury would rule him out for a while longer, given he also missed a chunk of pre-season and the initial PREM Cup rounds with a similar issue, but Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter has confirmed he isn’t too far off making his comeback.
“He’s still a few weeks off, but he’s been on the pitch for a couple of weeks,” said the DoR. “He’s doing a lot of pitch running, and he’s joining in with some of the skills.
“We’re getting into that end stage now, but where he quite gets too now will be interesting. It’s too early this week (against Sale Sharks), but he’s getting towards the last two or three weeks of things.
Feyi-Waboso is not the only Test star primed for a comeback in the coming weeks, as Exeter return to PREM action following a Six Nations hiatus, with Tom Hooper and Scott Sio among some key men back on the pitch.
“Tom Hooper is back in full training, Jimmy Roots is in full training and Scott Sio is back in full training,” Baxter said. “We’ve got good numbers back.
“Ehren (Painter) is back in full training now, but he probably needs a bit more time on the field and going flat out and chucking himself around.
However, Exeter will have to wait a little while longer to see star signing Len Ikitau take to the field, with Baxter detailing he still needs to get up to contact training after suffering a dislocated shoulder earlier in the season.
“Len’s still a little while off,” he said of the Wallaby. “It was a pretty bad shoulder injury, but he’s out on the pitch running. He’s a little while off contact yet, though.”
Further injuries
Exeter could be without England A back Josh Hodge and South African prop Khwezi Mona for their PREM clash against Sale Sharks this weekend, with the duo reporting back from their PREM Cup Final defeat with respective head and thumb issues.
“Josh Hodge came in earlier in the week and reported some headaches,” Baxter said. “You don’t know if it’s come from a head knock as nothing got flagged in the game, but once you start reporting headaches post-game, we’re starting to investigate that.
“Khwezi Mona’s got some swelling in his thumb. We’re investigating that at the moment. There’s something there, but we’re not sure if it’s an old injury that’s a bit messy or if it’s a new injury.
Rounding things off, Baxter confirmed Tommy Wyatt is still some way off making his return from a ruptured ACL at the end of last season.
“Tommy Wyatt’s still a little while off. Having two ACL injuries close together, although on different legs, takes some recovering from.
“He’s still a way off.”