Exeter Chiefs director of rugby Rob Baxter has claimed that a crucial delay in winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso undergoing surgery was caused by the Rugby Football Union’s medical department being on leave over the Christmas period.
Feyi-Waboso finally went under the knife last week for a shoulder injury he suffered in Exeter Chiefs’ defeat by Sale Sharks on December 21. He is expected to be out for 12-14 weeks, which leaves his hopes of appearing on the Lions tour hanging by a thread.
After undergoing two scans on December 23 and December 27, Feyi-Waboso was ready for an operation. However, under the terms of the Professional Game Partnership, the Rugby Football Union has “final say” on all players who have an enhanced Elite Player Squad contact, including Feyi-Waboso.
With no one from the RFU available to give the green light, Baxter says surgery was postponed before the 22-year-old decided to attempt to rehabilitate his shoulder, which he subsequently aggravated again in England training.
“You don’t need me to tell you that if someone gets injured before Christmas and has only had an operation now, something has gone wrong somewhere in the process,” Baxter said. “It’s something we have to find a better way to do in the future. The frustration is that if things had moved more swiftly in the first 10 or 11 days… we had an operation booked for him about day 10. He had two scans, then an operation was decided on, initially 10 days post the injury, which would have made him fit now. That’s the frustration.
“I am very comfortable putting my hand up and saying this was a difficult first one. Right from the outset, when the surgeon first looked at it, he said this is a 50-50; you can go the operative route or you can try rehab. After about two or three days, it was assessed again and the operative route was selected by the player, by England and by us.
“Then another delay happened on which surgeon England wanted to use and then another medical issue came up with Manny having a tooth infection. There are loads of little bits and pieces in here that haven’t made it a straightforward issue. I think everyone can understand the various bits and pieces that led to some of the delays, which is why the rehab decision ended up being the more sensible one.
“I think my biggest frustration and England’s was that it took a while for this process to get going because of the Christmas period. I think in our process, we organised a scan two days after [the injury] and then a second scan the day after Boxing Day and then things were happening so that an operation was initially booked. That process was quite quick when it was in our hands, but at that stage England didn’t really have any involvement, around that Christmas period.
“Initially, there was not anyone available and that would be my argument, if you take almost the first person who should see Manny is the RFU. That would be my interpretation of what the [PGP] agreement means. That would be my main concern.”
The RFU, too, is understood to have frustrations over the management of Feyi-Waboso’s injury. As a first test case of the new Professional Game Partnership it appears to have fallen horribly short. “There were always going to be some teething issues, wasn’t there?” Baxter said. “Initially, however you want to look at it, it probably took England by surprise as well, because the reality is that saying you are going to take charge of it and then taking charge of it within 24 hours are two different things when you’re not in a competitive window because people aren’t together.”
However, Baxter is hopeful that Feyi-Waboso could yet come into the reckoning for the Lions. In a best-case scenario, he would be available for the final two rounds of Premiership matches and Baxter believes he could yet put his hand up as a late bolter for Andy Farrell’s squad to Australia.
“I think he has still got that wildcard shot that tends to work doesn’t it?” Baxter said. “There often seems to be, in successful Lions years, somebody who comes from nowhere because of this, they have been injured, or they have not quite broken through.
“He is not completely out of the Lions reckoning because international players never are. Injuries happen, lack of form happens, summer tours happen and I went coaching on the Argentina tour in 2013 [with England] and players were leaving all through that tour to go to the Lions.”
The RFU has been approached for comment.
