Immanuel Feyi-Waboso doubtful for Premiership season start

England winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso faces a race against time to be fit for the start of the Premiership Rugby season.

The 22-year-old has not played for Exeter Chiefs since 21 December, when he dislocated his shoulder against Sale.

Feyi-Waboso underwent surgery in February after aggravating the same shoulder while training with England ahead of the Six Nations.

The timing of the operation sparked friction between Exeter and England, as the club had wanted an earlier procedure. His pre-season has been further disrupted by a hamstring injury, and he missed England’s latest training camp this week.

Exeter head coach Rob Baxter admitted that Feyi-Waboso is “touch and go” for the season opener. He highlighted that the winger has had little pre-season involvement due to his injuries and England commitments.

Baxter noted that while Feyi-Waboso brings unique one-on-one ability, he will face a tougher challenge than others in adjusting to Exeter’s updated attacking structures.

"Manny stayed in the England tour right to the end and then obviously after his five weeks off he's had relatively little pre-season time with us and we have changed a fair a bit around our calling structure and the way we play attack-wise," Baxter told BBC Sport.

"He's going to probably be more of a challenge than Henry who, even though he's not been able to do full contact with his hand, he's actually been in for quite a long period of pre-season because obviously he left the England tour early.

"So he's probably more up to speed with how we want to play, what we want to do. He's had more days on the training field with us so Henry's probably easier to fit in than Manny.

"But at the same time, as most people would probably know, Manny's strengths are probably not what he does in a system or a structure, it's just what he does one on one and the things he can make happen."

In contrast, Henry Slade has returned to fitness after injuring his hand during England’s tour of Argentina in July. Baxter explained that Slade has been able to spend more time training with Exeter, making him easier to integrate into the team’s systems.