Feyi-Waboso eyes more after 'best year of my life'

A year ago Immanuel Feyi-Waboso was living in halls of residence hoping to break into the Exeter University rugby union team, but 12 months on he has become one of the hottest properties in the English game.

The 21-year-old is preparing for his second season in the Premiership after a meteoric rise in which he became an England regular and scored a try in both Tests against the All Blacks in New Zealand in July.

"This has been the best year of my life, so far," says Feyi-Waboso, who is still juggling top-flight rugby with a medical degree.

"Everything's just seeming to go in the right direction, I'm just scared for a drop now."

Having moved to Exeter Chiefs from Wasps after their financial demise in 2022 the Cardiff-born winger had a season to remember as he scored 15 tries in 28 matches for club and country - having picked England over Wales before the start of the Six Nations.

"The first proper pinch myself moment was obviously my first start, and I think it was my first kind of set of starts, I was like, 'Oh, I've kind of established myself in this Exeter team,'" he says.

"Then the next one was definitely speaking to Steve [Borthwick, the England head coach,] on the phone. I was like, 'Oh wow, he's actually speaking to me,' and then it was getting called up to England.

"All of the little benchmarks I hit this year were crazy. To win some awards at the end of the year as well, it's just come all at once it feels like."

Feyi-Waboso is out of halls of residence after passing his first year medical exams and is moving into a house with his brother and a university friend.

And while the dreams of becoming a doctor continue, how much more improvement can he do as a winger after such a breakout campaign?

"I don't know," he says. "Hopefully a lot more, but I feel like you never know.

"I started last season being like, 'I want to play in the uni team, then play in the Premiership Cup teams and then the Premiership teams'.

"It's just milestone after milestone, I'm just trying to hit those.

"There are a lot of work-ons, definitely. Do I want to share them? Not really. But I know what they are."

He adds: "But things have changed in terms of on the pitch and stuff like that.

"Speaking to coaches I feel a lot more comfortable.

"Speaking to the boys on the pitch it feels like games slow down a bit, it's a little less frantic in my head, I guess.

"Off the pitch I just feel like my life's just a bit more comfortable now.

"I feel a bit more stability and stuff like that so it means I can push on."

Exeter finished the last Premiership season in seventh place, six points off the play-offs and 10 points behind top-placed Northampton Saints as the season went down to the final game.

Feyi-Waboso was part of a new-look side with young players such as Tommy Wyatt, Josh Hodge, Joe Hawkins and Greg Fisilau all establishing themselves after a summer in which the likes of Jack Nowell, Sam Simmonds and Stuart Hogg all departed.

"We're also expecting more of ourselves. We want to be better on and off the field this year," says the England winger.

"I think we have high expectations as well, obviously, we're a bit more accustomed to the Premiership.

"We're still new, but hopefully this time we'll do better.

"It is a really good, close-knit group, we're all learning things from each other."