England’s Feyi-Waboso in dilemma over surgery for sake of Lions ambitions

England’s Immanuel Feyi-Waboso is still in two minds about whether to undergo a shoulder operation that could impact his chances of representing the British & Irish Lions later this year.

The Exeter wing is scheduled to have surgery next week which would rule him out of the entire Six Nations and complicate his dream of touring Australia with the Lions this summer.

Rob Baxter, Exeter’s director of rugby, says the 22-year-old has not yet ruled out postponing the operation and keeping his fingers crossed that he can avoid recurring shoulder issues for the remainder of this season. A decision will need to be taken imminently, however, with Baxter suggesting extensive discussions between club and country are already delaying the recovery process.

If he has an operation next week on the shoulder he dislocated against Sale last month, Feyi-Waboso could be back playing again within three months, with plenty of time to prove his fitness, if selected, for the Lions who depart in June. That scenario, however, would rule him out of England’s Six Nations campaign and reduce his top-level opportunities to impress the Lions head coach, Andy Farrell.

“Basically he’s got an operation date booked in but until that operation happens he’s still working very hard rehabbing his shoulder,” revealed Baxter. “That will ultimately decide whether the operation happens or Manny feels he has got himself to a position where the rehab is going sufficiently well the operation doesn’t occur. It’s booked to happen but he’s not actually on the operating table yet.

“What you’ve got to remember is that there are so many moving parts for a player. In his head he’s thinking: ‘If I don’t get some international rugby in the Six Nations, is there any chance of the Lions?’ [Or] if I try to rehab it and get back for some of the Six Nations, do I potentially put myself in the Lions window? There are so many quandaries for him to get his head around.”

Ultimately the player has to have the final say but Baxter says the introduction of the Professional Game Partnership, which gives England a bigger say over the management of certain key players, has been delaying the process. “I think it certainly would have happened quicker, without doubt. We had things booked, ready to go, decisions ready to be made a week ago. The process you have to go through now has certainly slowed things down. That doesn’t mean, necessarily, that it’s wrong but it certainly slows things down.”

If the medical student does decide to swerve an operation this month, however, Baxter says there is still “zero possibility” of him being fit for the start of the Six Nations in early February. At the very least he would be unavailable for England’s opening two games against France and Ireland and Baxter does not want him to be rushed back prematurely for the sake of it.

“In a lot of ways, the operative route does take a lot of those ups and downs out of it. He gets it done, has proper rehab time and he knows his shoulder will be ready to go when he plays again. He can just get on and go hard at the end of the season. Everybody rehabs slightly differently, but [from when he has an operation] you’re talking about a 10- to 12-week range. That’s why if the operation happens, it needs to happen very quickly to give him the best opportunity.”

Feyi-Waboso has enjoyed an eye-catching start to his international career and, having scored five tries in his eight Tests to date, is clearly anxious to maintain his rapid progress. “He’s probably overthinking it a little bit,” said Baxter. “You’ve got a young man who’s had England recognition for the first time, a lot of nice things are being said about him. He had his first breakthrough season in the Premiership last year, there’s a Lions tour at the end of this year, and any young player who is in and around international rugby will have half an eye on the Lions.

“He’s an honest guy and there’s a lot going on for him at the moment. It’s not for me to say: ‘You do this’. As long as Manny’s decision is made with all the right information around it, then I’m very happy to back whatever he decides to do.”