Immanuel Feyi-Waboso is on course to make his England comeback on the summer tour of Argentina and keep hopes of a late British & Irish Lions call-up alive. Steve Borthwick said the Exeter wing was straining at the leash during a mini training camp on Tuesday.
Feyi-Waboso has been sidelined since late December after finally undergoing shoulder surgery that was put off amid confusion as to whether he would go under the knife or not.The delay, which exposed fault lines in the new club and country agreement, was exacerbated because Feyi-Waboso also had a tooth infection but ultimately cost him the chance to stake his claim for a place in the Lions squad.
The 22-year-old is yet to make his comeback for Exeter, who have one match remaining, against Sale, on 31 May. Given Feyi-Waboso was awarded an enhanced contract by the Rugby Football Union last autumn, Borthwick is very likely to have input as to whether he appears against the Sharks.
In the meantime, Borthwick has been impressed with how the trainee doctor performed in a two-day camp at England’s training base in Bagshot. It may be that Feyi-Waboso’s return comes against a France XV on 21 June before the tour of Argentina.
“He trained on the field with the team for elements of the session and did some modified training,” said Borthwick, who has convened a 33-man squad featuring 14 uncapped players with those selected by the Lions or potentially in action for Northampton and Bath this weekend omitted.
“He was in team training and doing individual training. He looks really good. I was delighted to see him back on the grass. The medical teams are really pleased with his recovery. You get a sense from the player of how he’s feeling and there was a really positive energy off Manny.
“The number of times I had to step in and pull him back because he wanted to do more … I had to go and stand on his wing and remind him. That’s a positive sign of where Manny is at. He’s a world-class player.”
With Maro Itoje leading a Lions squad featuring 12 other England players, Borthwick must select a new captain for the two-Test tour of Argentina with a one-off match against the USA to follow. Jamie George – who wasstripped of the captaincyin January – and George Ford offer experienced options while Ben Curry and Fraser Dingwall are younger candidates who fulfil the role for their clubs.
Borthwick identified second row as an area where he would like to add depth with Arthur Clark among the uncapped contingent while the props Afo Fasogbon and Asher Opoku-Fordjour – who has one cap to his name – are members of last summer’s World Cup winning under-20s side who have been promoted. Eight years ago, Eddie Jones handed debuts to Tom Curry and Sam Underhill on the tour of Argentina with 16 players named in Warren Gatland’s Lions squad and Borthwick is hoping to unearth his own gems for the 2027 World Cup.
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“The players who emerged in that series against Argentina, two years out from the World Cup, became really important players for England in that World Cup,” Borthwick said. “I have no doubt there will be some players who emerge this summer and stake their claim. I’m looking forward to that.”
Meanwhile, the former England full-back Mike Brown has announced he will retire at the end of the season with a parting shot at rugby’s authorities. Brown, who won 72 caps, will bring the curtain down on a 20-year career at the end of Leicester’s season.
“Club owners, league executives, national and international governing body senior leadership – my hope is that you come together, think beyond the short term and make the bold, unselfish decisions needed to allow rugby to thrive once again,” he said. “We have a responsibility to protect and grow this incredible game so future generations can experience everything it has to offer – just as I have.”