Exeter Chiefs look set to be without Immanuel Feyi-Waboso for their opening Investec Champions Cup clash with Toulouse, but any long-term fears over the England star’s fitness have been eased.
The 23-year-old back came off in the second-half in their win over Newcastle Red Bulls on Sunday with a hamstring concern, and underwent scans earlier this week.
“He feels like he’s overloaded his hamstring a little bit; I don’t think it’s catastrophic or been a proper twang,” Exeter director of rugby, Rob Baxter, explained after the 34-28 win at Sandy Park.
“He carried on after he first reported it; he did a kick-chase, came up with the ball at full speed and chased back, but he just doesn’t feel right. I expect that’ll get scanned and we’ll assess it over the week.”
‘We’re hopeful that we can treat the symptoms’
Feyi-Waboso’s departure would have left both Exeter and England sweating ahead of a crucial block of fixtures, with Chiefs heading across the channel to take on Top 14 champions Toulouse in Europe before returning to face Bristol Bears and Harlequins in the PREM and the national side looking towards November’s Nations Championship Tests; and while it seems he won’t be available this weekend, Baxter has moved quickly to dismiss any long-term concerns.
“I doubt it very much,” the Chiefs DoR said when asked if Feyi-Waboso was fit for this weekend. “He’s had a scan and he’s got some awareness there, but the scan doesn’t show too much.
“It’s one of those things; scans tend to always show something, but on testing he’s very good. We’re hopeful that we can treat the symptoms he’s showing and see where he gets to over the next week or so.
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“Looking at how he’s reporting post-game (after Newcastle) and yesterday, there’s nothing I’m hearing from our physios that’s saying it should be a long-term issue.”
The situation is also made slightly more complicated with Feyi-Waboso on an enhanced Elite Player Squad (EPS) contract, which gives England final say on any medical issues, but conversations are already ongoing about the way to manage his latest injury.
“The conversations have so far been between the medical staff (England and Exeter),” Baxter continued. “An England physio was in yesterday to assess the scan and assess Manny.
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“There are always two sides to an injury: what something looks like on a scan and then how the player is reporting and moving around. Sometimes, they can be very different. On the basis of the conversations I’ve had with my medics, they’re looking at Manny and seeing that he’s reporting so well and functionally so good that there may not need to be too much intervention.
“That’s the ongoing process and will happen over the next few days. There are things that England will like to do, and we’re in a delicate time for both parties; we’re desperate for Manny to play because we’ve got some important games and England want him to feature in the autumn.
“These are just the ongoing conversations that will happen between ourselves and England. If Manny is functionally fine and he’s ready to go, and he’d have had a break week this week, that’s a different conversation than if he’s still feeling it next Monday.
“Those are just the ongoing conversations that I assume will happen on a regular basis.”