On a Sunday afternoon against Australia, a winger who has long promised more than his body has allowed took a knock that ended his autumn and, perhaps, a stretch of hopes that keeps circling back in English rugby. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso chose, with the staff's assent, to stay on the field and try to run the pain away, a small decision that carries the old tension between a player's will and a body's limits. His coach, Kevin Sinfield, reaches for an earlier figure in the sport's memory, Jason Robinson, whose own explosive career was cut short by a torn hamstring, and in that comparison the game s
Feyi-Waboso is England's 'Jason Robinson', says Sinfield as injury cloud lingers
Winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso suffered an ankle injury against Australia that rules him out of the entire autumn campaign.
"He is our Jason Robinson," said Sinfield of his injured winger
Mark
Why does the comparison to Jason Robinson matter here?
Mimi
It places Feyi-Waboso among England's great finishers, players whose speed and side-step change games. Robinson scored 28 tries in 51 Tests. Feyi-Waboso has nine in 17.
Luke
Worth noting the comparison is Sinfield's opinion, and he's a coach talking about his own player. It's praise, not a measurement.
Mark
And the injury link? Robinson tore a hamstring in his final Test.
Mimi
Sinfield uses it to say explosive players sometimes just get a run of injuries. It's a framing, not a diagnosis.
Luke
Right. The article doesn't say the injuries share a cause. Shoulder, hamstring, ankle, a facial fracture: those are different problems.
Mark
Why did he play on after the ankle injury?
Mimi
Sinfield says Feyi-Waboso wanted to run it off, and coaches felt they should listen. He stayed on until half-time.
Luke
We only have Sinfield's account of that decision. And we don't know the exact nature or severity of the ankle injury, or how long he'll be out beyond this autumn.
Mark
What about the Exeter relationship?
Mimi
England have the final say on his fitness, there were past disagreements, and things have improved. They cleared him for the Prem final three weeks after a facial fracture.
Luke
Which shows better cooperation, but it also shows how much rides on that judgment call.
The Pulse
- A winger hobbled off at half-time against Australia, having stayed on in the 32nd minute, and his England season is over.
- Coaches must trust a player's own judgment about pain, with no scanner on the grass to settle the question.
- England and club side Exeter are working to repair their fitness management so that a prized talent stops breaking down.
- Caluori is called up as replacement while Tom Curry and others join the list of absentees, leaving the squad thinner and the rebuilding task longer.
On a Sunday afternoon against Australia, a winger who has long promised more than his body has allowed took a knock that ended his autumn and, perhaps, a stretch of hopes that keeps circling back in English rugby. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso chose, with the staff's assent, to stay on the field and try to run the pain away, a small decision that carries the old tension between a player's will and a body's limits. His coach, Kevin Sinfield, reaches for an earlier figure in the sport's memory, Jason Robinson, whose own explosive career was cut short by a torn hamstring, and in that comparison the game sees its own fragility reflected. The story is ultimately about how talent is kept whole across a season that never stops asking for it.
Thirty-two minutes into the match against Australia, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso rolled his ankle. He did not leave the pitch. He hobbled on through to half-time, and by then his England autumn was finished. England went on to win 45-22, but the winger's absence was already settled.
Kevin Sinfield has explained that the decision to keep him on was shaped by the player's own wish to run the injury off. There is no scanner on the grass, Sinfield said, so staff rely on what they see and what players tell them, and getting that balance right is the whole task.
This is only the latest interruption. Since his debut in 2024 he has scored nine tries in 17 Tests, yet shoulder, hamstring and now ankle injuries have kept checking his progress. Sinfield, who once played against Jason Robinson, compared the two: explosive wingers who run hard often break down. England and Exeter must now work together on his fitness, because keeping these players healthy for the big games matters more than any single match.
The squad is stretched in other places too. Tom Curry is out with a hip problem, and Noah Caluori has been called up to take Feyi-Waboso's place. Sinfield, meanwhile, keeps raising money for motor neurone disease research in memory of his friend Rob Burrow, and his next challenge is a run of marathons in Australia and New Zealand. "We've got to carry on," he said.
Thirty-two minutes into Sunday's match against Australia, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso hurt his ankle. He did not come off. He hobbled through to half-time and was replaced only then, and his season with England was over. England went on to win 45-22.
Assistant coach Kevin Sinfield has since explained why the winger stayed on. Feyi-Waboso, who is studying medicine, wanted to try to run the injury off, and Sinfield said that wish swayed the decision. There is no way to scan a player on the grass, he said, so staff judge it with their eyes, and he thinks it is right for coaches to listen to what players tell them. He called it a question of getting the balance right.
The ankle is the latest in a run of setbacks. Since his Test debut against Italy in 2024, Feyi-Waboso has scored nine tries in 17 appearances for England, but his progress has repeatedly been checked. A shoulder injury kept him out of the 2025 Six Nations. In 2026 a hamstring injury picked up in training ended his tournament before England's opening-round win over Wales. He came back this summer and scored in wins over Fiji and Argentina before the ankle went on Sunday.
Sinfield, who played against Jason Robinson in their rugby league days, drew a direct comparison. "He is our Jason Robinson," he said. Robinson's acceleration and side-step brought him 28 tries in 51 England appearances between 2001 and 2007, and he tore a hamstring in the World Cup final defeat by South Africa, his last Test. Sinfield's point was that players who are this explosive and powerful sometimes suffer a run of injuries. He said Feyi-Waboso is across everything to do with his body and that England hope to get him firing again as soon as they can.
The management of that return involves two parties. England have the final say over the fitness and conditioning of centrally contracted players like Feyi-Waboso, and there have been disagreements with his club, Exeter, over his treatment in the past. Relations have improved since. England signed off his return for June's Prem final just three weeks after he suffered a facial fracture. Sinfield said the collaboration between England and Exeter will be important because these players play a lot of rugby, and getting them fit for the big games matters.
The injuries are not confined to one player. Ollie Chessum, George Furbank and Seb Atkinson will miss Saturday's match against Japan. Flanker Tom Curry has joined Feyi-Waboso in being ruled out of the whole autumn campaign after aggravating a long-standing hip issue. Saracens' 20-year-old Noah Caluori, who scored on his England debut against Fiji in July, has been called up in Feyi-Waboso's place.
Sinfield, meanwhile, has another focus. He was knighted last month for services to both codes of rugby and for his work raising money and awareness for motor neurone disease. His friend and former Leeds Rhinos team-mate Rob Burrow died from MND in June 2024, aged 41. Sinfield has raised more than £13m for charities supporting people with the disease and seeking a cure, most recently by running seven ultra marathons in seven days last month.
His next challenge is seven marathons in seven days in New Zealand and Australia in late May, aimed at supporting global research collaboration. The profile of MND in Australia has risen after recent diagnoses of NRL star Jai Arrow and former Wallaby Nathan Charles. "It's important we continue because there's no cure," Sinfield said. "We've got to carry on."
Notable Quotes
He is our Jason Robinson.— Kevin Sinfield, England assistant coach
You can't scan anyone on the grass, so you're looking at it with your eyes. I think it's only right for us, as coaches, that we listen to players.— Kevin Sinfield, England assistant coach
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