Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has been ruled out of England’s potentially decisive Six Nations match in France on Saturday after reporting symptoms of concussion following the triumph against Ireland.
The 21-year-old Exeter wing produced a scintillating display on his first Test start in the rousing victory at Twickenham on Saturday before complaining of feeling groggy after the game.
Elliot Daly of Saracens is in line to replace Feyi-Waboso on the wing when Steve Borthwick’s side face Les Bleus in Lyon.
“Manny is out with a head knock,” England’s attack coach, Richard Wigglesworth, said on Tuesday. “He felt a bit groggy, so he is unfortunately ruled out of the game, which is unfortunate. We don’t take any risks with that sort of stuff …
“He was obviously gutted but being the smart lad he is, he reported his symptoms so that we’re not taking any risks. There was no major incident – he had a knock and didn’t feel quite right, so he reported the symptoms and was removed accordingly.
“It is completely one of the reasons why the [concussion] education has happened so players know. The players are better looked after than ever.”
Regarding Feyi-Waboso’s swift rise on to the international scene, and the extent to which he impressed in a win that denied Andy Farrell’s Ireland a chance of a second consecutive grand slam, Wigglesworth said: “It had been building for Manny. You have to integrate these players carefully, and I think Steve [Borthwick] did that well in how he exposed him to Test rugby, so he was ready to fly.
“He played really well, got his hands on the ball and did what we asked him to do and brought his talents. It’s very disappointing for him as I know how desperate he was to play again and how much he enjoyed his first start.”
Ireland will clinch the Six Nations with a win or a draw against Scotland in Dublin, so the title is likely to be out of reach for England when they kick off against Fabien Galthié’s side in the championship’s concluding game.
In the event that Farrell’s are beaten while failing to take a losing bonus point, however, England would overtake them with a bonus-point success across the Channel.
Asked if England’s performance against Ireland was “angry”, after intense media criticism in the aftermath of the error-strewn defeat by Scotland, the former England and Leicester fly-half said: “Just to be clear, there would be no media used in our team meetings to get ourselves going. That is a slippery slope to try and use. We want to get better.
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“Now will the players hear it and see it [media coverage], because you’ve all got your phone in front of you? And use it in an emotional moment, someone like Ben Earl commenting on it? Yes, absolutely.
“Let’s just stop the, maybe, you guys [the media] taking some credit for their performance. Those are the general lines of what I felt, and I think the players got themselves to that point through a lot of hard work.”
Wigglesworth, who oversaw England’s most compelling attacking display for some time against Ireland, said he was alert to the danger of deflation among the players after such an emotional occasion.
“We have to build back up, so to build back up we have to have a dip, which comes post-game, with all the emotion involved for Danny Care’s 100th cap, all these situations,” Wigglesworth said. “What we’ve got to do is decide we want to improve again. That is what good teams do … you go again and try and improve.”
