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Exeter Chiefs boss Rob Baxter is crossing his fingers that surgeon Manny Feyi-Waboso will confirm on Thursday that he will be out for just four to six weeks with the ankle injury he picked up while playing for England against Australia on Sunday.
England’s medics have already publicly announced that the 23-year-old, who has scored two tries in five appearances this season, will miss the rest of the season. Nations Championship due to an injury he picked up in the first half of Sunday’s 45-22 win over the Wallabies.
Feyi-Waboso was the victim of Angus Bell’s “knee drop” and was walking around in a boot after the match, but Baxter says the early signs are that the injury will not require surgery.
“He’s here this morning, being treated,” Baxter said.
“He has an appointment with a surgeon tomorrow who will give us a more detailed opinion on all the scan results, etc. he’s had. That will then decide where he goes.”
“I think the balance of opinion at the moment, both ours and England’s, is that he is unlikely to need surgery, but I don’t want to confirm that until tomorrow’s consultation.
“But I think you’re saying, if it’s a decent high ankle sprain, at least four to six weeks really, but it’s so hard to know. Manny’s the type of guy who can run in a week and then it changes the whole timeline.”
“So it’s a bit early to say too much until tomorrow’s interview because everything can turn out really, really positive or you can come out on the negative side.
“The difference between the two is a fair amount of time. So I don’t want to say too much and make a statement that was so wrong it’s ridiculous.”
Feyi-Waboso has scored nine tries in 17 appearances for England, but his progress has been hampered by a series of injuries. He missed all of 2025 Six Nations with a shoulder injury.
Last year, he suffered a hamstring injury in practice before winning the first round Wales and was excluded from the tournament for the second year in a row.
Baxter adds that, as with England and Lions winger Jack Nowell at the club, are prone to injuries that come in spades, but there will be long spells when they are injury-free.
“It’s quite worrying isn’t it? Jack Nowell was the same when he was here. It’s quite frustrating because you see him at La Rochelle and he’s had a really high availability.”
“But sometimes the way these guys play, they’re match-breaking guys and they come out the other side of the match, but they’re always at risk with these kinds of lower-extremity injuries.
“Because they end up in a match-breaking situation, and everybody’s squirming and applying pressure and power at awkward moments in situations like this.
“The advantage of having players who are able to break up the match is obviously that they are very dangerous, but the challenge with that is to keep them fit.
“Manny’s probably going to have a couple of stretches where he’s injury-free for a long time. That’s how it happens, you know; injuries usually come in a little spurt. And then they settle down.”
