Immanuel Feyi-Waboso: ‘Hearing Swing Low at Twickenham gave me goosebumps’

Immanuel Feyi-Waboso may have looked unflappable on a “fairytale” first start for England, but the 21-year-old needed to navigate an emotional rollercoaster during a dramatic victory over Ireland.

At full-time, after Marcus Smith’s last-gasp drop-goal had landed a 23-22 win, Feyi-Waboso admitted to shedding a tear in the embrace of Ellis Genge. Earlier in the piece, the Twickenham atmosphere caused the young wing to shiver.

“The whole experience was crazy, the ups and downs, hearing ‘Swing Low’ in the stadium,” Feyi-Waboso said. “I didn’t think you’d hear it because you’re in the zone but during breaks in play, I think I had goosebumps on the pitch.”

Feyi-Waboso had come off the bench in Italy and in Scotland to earn his first two caps, scoring a slicing solo try at Murrayfield. But his preparations for round four were compromised by a medical exam.

Rather than travel to York with Steve Borthwick’s squad, Feyi-Waboso stayed in Exeter with a personalised conditioning programme to revise for an OSCE [Objective Structured Clinical Examination]; a practical test of potential hospital scenarios where patients are played by actors.

On Saturday evening, he described that ordeal as “a lot less stressful” than facing Ireland, not that his performance betrayed that. Feyi-Waboso, who represented Taunton Titans in the third tier last season and has only played a total of 14 matches for Exeter Chiefs in the Premiership and Champions Cup, continued his remarkable rise with another assured performance.

With 11 members of family among the Twickenham crowd, he defended wholeheartedly and posed problems for Ireland with ball in hand, making 70 running metres and slipping five tackles according to Stats Perform. Indeed, his explosive carry past Bundee Aki and down the right touchline in the final moments, with England reduced to 14 men following Chandler Cunningham-South’s injury, swept them close enough for Smith to seal the result.

“I remember just seeing a bit of space and looking up at DC, Danny Care, and going ‘Danny…’,” said Feyi-Waboso, detailing the endgame and epitomising England’s collective attitude in attack. “Marcus then saw the space, came around and we were like ‘go, go, go’.”

“I think it was just Aki on the edge [opposite me], I don’t know where their winger was. But I went around and I think I was almost in but they covered well. Eventually we obviously got the drop-goal, which was massive; huge.

“I think it’s just the half-backs seeing space and playing to it. Obviously Danny, Marcus, George [Ford], Mitch [Alex Mitchell] all love playing to space. As long as you put yourself in good positions, I feel like they’ll get the ball to you.”

England’s selection of the Cardiff-born Feyi-Waboso, who joined Exeter from Wasps when the latter went bust in 2022, caused controversy at the start of the Six Nations. Feyi-Waboso himself “deleted a lot of social media” over a difficult fortnight prior to the encounter with Wales in round two, but did not come off the bench in that match and explained that the furore has now “died down”.

While he has seemed a picture of composure on the pitch, Feyi-Waboso conceded that he is still acclimatising to everything about being an England player.

“The hotel we’re staying at… all the hotels we stay at!” he said. “The food, the chefs, everywhere we go; chartered flights! Coaches, players, being around all the big names and seeing them every day. It’s still weird.”

“It’s definitely faster, more physical,” Feyi-Waboso added. “I feel like mistakes definitely get punished, especially against a team like Ireland. They’re very good at that. But I think boys stuck together today. When we did make mistakes, we got together and had a next-job mentality.”

Feyi-Waboso: ‘You could feel something special was brewing’

Having selected him to start on the wing, with Elliot Daly dropping to the bench, Steve Borthwick urged Feyi-Waboso to pick up as many touches as possible.

“When a great coach like that, Steve and all the other great coaches like Felix [Jones] and Wiggy [Richard Wigglesworth], say they want the ball in your hands, that gives you confidence. It makes you want to get the ball in your hands and want to get in good positions.

“I feel like the half-backs also listen to those messages and want to put the ball in your hands. It’s unbelievable. Obviously you feel a little bit out of place. I’ve only played a couple of games, but they make you feel way more comfortable and that allows you to express yourself.”

Describing the win, which marked Danny Care’s 100th cap and his own maiden Test start, as a “fairytale”, Feyi-Waboso now wants England to finish off their campaign with another convincing effort in Lyon.

“I feel like this whole process has been growing,” he said. “We’ve always known we can do something special. From Girona, the first week we were in camp. You could feel something special was brewing.

“Obviously all the press, you guys, say ‘aw England aren’t getting results’. But I don’t think we really see it that way. We see us progressing well and this [match] was a reflection of all the hard work we’ve done over the last couple of weeks. Hopefully we can carry it on into France.”