Immanuel Feyi-Waboso blow for England ahead of Six Nations opener against Wales
Feyi-Waboso suffered a hamstring injury in training on Thursday and has been ruled out of at least the showdown at Allianz Stadium.
England enter Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations opener against Wales without the electric Immanuel Feyi-Waboso in a late change that sees Tom Roebuck come on to the right wing.
Feyi-Waboso suffered a hamstring injury in training on Thursday and has been ruled out of at least the round one showdown at Allianz Stadium with England yet to provide a date for his return.
It will be hoped that the Exeter wing, his side’s most dangerous runner, recovers in time for the pivotal clash with Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday week, with Ireland’s visit to Twickenham continuing their schedule a week later.
It is an unfortunate development given he missed all of last year’s Six Nations after undergoing shoulder surgery, making his comeback on the summer tour against the USA before starting throughout the autumn.
“We’re gutted for him. He’s a very emotionally resilient guy and a hard working guy,” flanker Sam Underhill said.
“Anyone doing a medical degree and who is playing rugby probably has a level of resilience anyway. He’s a good guy no doubt he’ll be back better for it.”
Roebuck is thrust straight into the starting XV in what will be his first appearance since a try-scoring outing against New Zealand in November, at which point a broken toe cut short an impressive autumn from the 25-year-old Sale Shark.
He was initially ruled out against Wales with Steve Borthwick declaring on Monday that he needed “another week or so”, but he has now been chosen ahead of Elliot Daly.
“Steve said the other day he’d be ready in a couple of days. In an ideal world, we’d have given him an extra week but the world isn’t ideal, as we know,” scrum coach Tom Harrison said.
“He trained fully on Thursday and he’s been exceptional around the squad. I’m excited to see him go.
“We do a really good job around what ifs, what might happen and combinations. Does it disrupt some plans? Yes it does because it’s changing a player, but we’ve done everything we can to make sure the next player is ready.”
England are overwhelming favourites to extend Wales’ losing streak in the Six Nations to 12 matches dating back to 2023, a miserable run that is part of a broader picture of 21 defeats in 23 Tests.
An upset would be seismic, but Underhill insists opponents whose domestic game is mired in crisis are being given full respect.
“We don’t pay much attention to bookies’ odds. One of the beauties of rugby is that on any given day, anything can happen,” Underhill said.
“When it comes to Test rugby I don’t think that form necessarily matters that much. Ultimately you have to turn up on the day and do what you set out to do.
“We’re expecting it to be a very competitive game. We know we’ve got to be at our best to get the result we want.”
