EXETER — Exeter Chiefs are set to be without Immanuel Feyi-Waboso for their opening Investec Champions Cup clash with Toulouse, though long-term fears over the England wing have been eased. The 23-year-old came off in the second half of Exeter's 34-28 win over Newcastle Red Bulls at Sandy Park on Sunday with a hamstring concern and underwent scans earlier this week.
Director of rugby Rob Baxter said the issue is not thought to be serious, explaining: "He feels like he's overloaded his hamstring a little bit; I don't think it's catastrophic or been a proper twang." Baxter added: "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." When asked if Feyi-Waboso would be fit for this weekend, Baxter replied: "I doubt it very much. 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," Baxter said. "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 complicated by Feyi-Waboso's enhanced Elite Player Squad (EPS) contract, which gives England final say on medical matters. Baxter confirmed: "The conversations have so far been between the medical staff (England and Exeter). An England physio was in yesterday to assess the scan and assess Manny."
"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," Baxter said. "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." With Exeter facing Top 14 champions Toulouse in Europe before PREM fixtures against Bristol Bears and Harlequins, and England building towards November's Nations Championship Tests, Baxter stressed the dialogue will continue: "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."