{"id":462432,"date":"2026-02-06T14:48:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T14:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/462432\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T14:48:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T14:48:11","slug":"england-suffer-big-six-nations-blow-with-feyi-waboso-ruled-out-of-wales-clash-six-nations-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/462432\/","title":{"rendered":"England suffer big Six Nations blow with Feyi-Waboso ruled out of Wales clash | Six Nations 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

England have suffered a major setback on the eve of their Six Nations<\/a> opener against Wales on Saturday with Immanuel Feyi-Waboso ruled out with a hamstring injury, prompting a surprise recall for Tom Roebuck.<\/p>\n

Roebuck is the beneficiary of Feyi-Waboso\u2019s injury, called into the side to make a first appearance since picking up a toe injury in England\u2019s November victory over the All Blacks<\/a>. England are still investigating the extent of Feyi-Waboso\u2019s knock \u2013 sustained in training on Thursday<\/a> \u2013 and it remains to be seen if he will feature at all in the Six Nations.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Manny] pulled out of training in the last 60 seconds and unfortunately won\u2019t be available this weekend,\u201d said the England assistant coach Tom Harrison. \u201cHe sustained pulled muscle in the leg area. Does it disrupt some plans? Yes it does because it\u2019s changing a player. But we\u2019ve done everything we can to make sure the next player is ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

The head coach, Steve Borthwick, had said that Roebuck was \u201ca week or so\u201d from full fitness when omitting him from the initial matchday squad earlier in the week, suggesting he was on track to make his comeback against Scotland next week, but the Sale wing has received the nod over Elliot Daly.<\/p>\n

\u201cSteve said the other day [Tom would] be ready in a couple of days,\u201d added Harrison. \u201cIn an ideal world, we\u2019d have given him an extra week but the world isn\u2019t ideal as we know. He trained fully yesterday and he\u2019s been exceptional around the squad. I\u2019m excited to see him go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feyi-Waboso\u2019s absence is a blow for Borthwick given the Exeter wing has been in fine form for club and country this season. He started all four autumn Tests, scoring two tries in England\u2019s 100% winning campaign and re-establishing himself on the international stage after missing last year\u2019s Six Nations with a shoulder injury.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old represented Wales under-18s before pledging his allegiance to England but his late withdrawal means he is still yet to appear against Saturday\u2019s opponents. \u201cAny player would be disappointed with an injury,\u201d said the England back-rower Sam Underhill. \u201cWe\u2019re gutted for him. He\u2019s a very emotionally resilient guy, he\u2019s a hard-working guy. Anyone doing a medical degree and playing rugby probably has a level of resilience anyway. He\u2019s a good guy, no doubt he\u2019ll be back better for it but yeah, it\u2019s disappointing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite Roebuck\u2019s lack of game time and question marks over his fitness, he has proved himself an impressive operator on the international stage. He started the autumn victories against Australia and New Zealand, scoring the fourth and final try against the All Blacks<\/a>, having cemented his spot on the right wing in last year\u2019s thumping victory over Wales in Cardiff. Borthwick has called up the Bristol prop Max Lahiff into his squad to bolster front-row numbers with the Bath youngster Billy Sela absent due to injury.<\/p>\n

Despite the disruption, England are red-hot favourites to extend their winning run to 12 matches, with Wales on a Six Nations losing streak that dates back to 2023. The England captain, Jamie George, is expecting a fearsome challenge against their great rivals, however.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hostile. There\u2019s confrontation. They are tough games,\u201d said George. \u201cYou feel it in the stadiums you play at, whether that\u2019s the Allianz or the Principality. It\u2019s like there\u2019s a different energy in the crowd and that plays into the way the game is played and it\u2019s so confrontational. That\u2019s why they are great games to be part of.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"England have suffered a major setback on the eve of their Six Nations opener against Wales on Saturday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462433,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-462432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}