England’s Feyi-Waboso in dilemma over surgery for sake of Lions ambitions
England’s Manny Feyi-Waboso is still in two minds about whether to undergo a shoulder operation that could affect his chances of British & Irish Lions selection later this year. The Exeter wing is scheduled to have surgery next week which would see him miss the entire Six Nations but has yet to reach a final decision.
Rob Baxter, Exeter’s director of rugby, says the 22-year-old has not yet ruled out having rehab work on the dislocated shoulder he suffered against Sale last month and delaying an operation until later in the year. A decision will need to be taken imminently, however, with Baxter suggesting that lengthy discussions between club and country have already delayed the recovery process.
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“Basically he’s got an operation date booked in but until that operation happens he’s still working very hard rehabbing his shoulder,” revealed Baxter. “That will ultimately decide whether the operation happens or Manny feels he has got himself to a position where the rehab is going sufficiently well that the operation doesn’t occur. It’s booked to happen but he’s not actually on the operating table yet.
“In his head he’s thinking: ‘If I don’t get some international rugby in the Six Nations, is there any chance of the Lions? (Or) if I try to rehab it and get back for some of the Six Nations, do I potentially put myself in the Lions window?’ There are so many quandaries for him to get his head around.”
If he has an operation next week, Feyi-Waboso could be back playing again within three months, with plenty of time to prove his fitness, if selected, before the Lions depart in June. Even if he opts to postpone the operation, however, Baxter has confirmed there is “zero possibility” of his player being fit for the start of the Six Nations in early February.
Further complicating the situation is the new Professional Game Partnership, which gives England a bigger say over the management of certain key players and has already caused Feyi-Waboso’s surgery to be delayed.
“I think it certainly would have happened quicker, without doubt,” said Baxter. “We had things booked, ready to go, decisions ready to be made a week ago. The process you have to go through now has certainly slowed things down. That doesn’t mean, necessarily, that it’s wrong but it certainly slows things down.”
The priority in all this, clearly, should be Feyi-Waboso who has enjoyed an eye-catching start to his international career and, having scored five tries in his eight Tests to date, is clearly anxious to maintain his rapid progress. “He’s probably overthinking it a little bit, as you can imagine,” said Baxter.
“He had his first breakthrough season in the Premiership last year, there’s a Lions tour at the end of this year and any young player who is in and around international rugby will have half an eye on the Lions. It’s not for me to say ‘you do this’. As long as Manny’s decision is made with all the right information around it, then I’m very happy to back whatever he decides to do.”
Saracens’ director of rugby, Mark McCall, meanwhile, says he is “not surprised” his New Zealand-born fly-half Fergus Burke is being courted by Scotland ahead of this year’s Six Nations. Burke is qualified for both Scotland and England, and McCall has confirmed the 25-year-old is assessing his options.
“He’ll weigh up the opportunity in both countries,” said McCall. “You’ve got some really good fly-halves in England ahead of you and there’s maybe a little bit of an easier route in Scotland, although obviously Finn Russell is a superb player. He’s got a lot to think about, and as a club we’ll support him no matter what.”
Premiership rugby audiences are showing a healthy upturn with a record 2.6 million fans having attended a fixture over the festive period. The average television audience on TNT sports is also up by 11% compared with the same stage last season.
