{"id":408003,"date":"2026-02-04T20:14:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T20:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/408003\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T20:14:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T20:14:12","slug":"welsh-crowd-called-me-a-traitor-it-was-hilarious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/408003\/","title":{"rendered":"Welsh crowd called me a traitor \u2014 it was hilarious"},"content":{"rendered":"

So much energises Immanuel Feyi-Waboso. To the England wing, so much is \u201chilarious\u201d or \u201camazing\u201d and often delivered with a smile. This week is no different. In fact, he has even more bounce in his step than usual \u2014 because, for the first time, he will play against Wales.<\/p>\n

Born in Cardiff and raised there until he was 16, Feyi-Waboso still speaks with a hint of a Welsh lilt. We have known this story for a while: he grew up in the suburb of Llandaff as one of six children to British-Nigerian parents, went to the Welsh capital\u2019s Corpus Christi comprehensive school, but then moved to Clifton College in Bristol, while taking an academy contract with Cardiff. <\/p>\n

He left the club when he \u2014 despite an A* and two As at A-level \u2014 failed to gain a place to study medicine at Cardiff University. Instead, he joined Aston University and Wasps. When Wasps went into administration in 2022, he moved to Exeter Chiefs and resumed his studies at the University of Exeter. <\/p>\n

\"England<\/p>\n

Feyi-Waboso, who represented Wales at under-18 level, was an unused replacement when England played the country of his birth in the 2024 Six Nations<\/p>\n

SIMON KING\/PROSPORTS\/REX\/SHUTTERSTOCK<\/p>\n

And yet Feyi-Waboso always felt more connected to England \u2014 from his grandmother in Cheltenham, down through the Nigerian side of his family, who all lived over the border too. So while he has worn the red of Wales at under-18 level, pulling on a white shirt against the country of his birth at Twickenham in the Six Nations on Saturday will be loaded with significance. <\/p>\n

Does it feel that way, because it completes the circle? \u201cMaybe, somewhat,\u201d he says. \u201cI just feel like it\u2019s a team I want to beat. You have a few of them, France too, but they\u2019re just a team I really want to beat.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says that without venom; he is not the type to stoke animosity, but a young athlete keen to tick things off on his growing list of achievements. Besides, Feyi-Waboso is friends with many in the Welsh squad, including Dafydd Jenkins, his Exeter team-mate, Ospreys\u2019 Harri Deaves and Cardiff\u2019s Alex Mann. <\/p>\n

He was richly entertained, and motivated, when he lined up at Sandy Park against Cardiff on January 18 in the Challenge Cup. The Chiefs won 31-0, and Feyi-Waboso copped it from the travelling fans. He found it all so funny.<\/p>\n

\"Joseph<\/p>\n

Feyi-Waboso, left, celebrates a try during Exeter\u2019s win over Cardiff last month, when he was targeted by the travelling supporters: \u201cIt was good crack. At times they were louder than our fans. It was good motivation\u201d<\/p>\n

PHIL MINGO\/PPAUK\/SHUTTERSTOCK<\/p>\n

\u201cThe crowd was at me. It was so hilarious. Their fans travel well, from Cardiff,\u201d he says, singing each chant he remembers. \u201cIt was \u2018traitor, traitor!\u2019 and \u2018Manny is a Welshman!\u2019 and \u2018you\u2019re just a shit Tom Bowen\u2019, so it was good crack. At times they were louder than our fans. It was actually good motivation when you\u2019re on the pitch. I was kick-chasing, hearing that, and it\u2019s just as good as someone cheering you.\u201d<\/p>\n

If he hears the same voices again, and scores against Wales, will he go full Henry Pollock and hush the crowd? Or hoof the ball into the stands as the back-rower did when scoring against Bordeaux B\u00e8gles<\/a>? Unlikely. Feyi-Waboso is not that sort.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, no! Leave that to him, he\u2019s good at that stuff,\u201d Feyi-Waboso says. \u201cThat was good, as it was a mental try wasn\u2019t it? He caught it on the edge, chipped, chased \u2026 he\u2019s after my spot. He\u2019s an amazing player and can back it up. They would\u2019ve hated that. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen someone has misplaced confidence, it\u2019s like, \u2018What are you doing?\u2019 but this guy is doing it every single week on the biggest stage. He\u2019s scored two tries and every time he comes off the bench he\u2019s backing it up, so you can\u2019t really hate him. It\u2019s too good. If you\u2019re good enough, go for it. We appreciate the fact that the game needs to grow, so it\u2019s amazing to have that personality.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Immanuel<\/p>\n

The wing, who still speaks with a Welsh lilt, has been at Exeter since Wasps went into administration in 2022<\/p>\n

PHIL MINGO\/PPAUK<\/p>\n

For Feyi-Waboso, this has been a long road back to playing in the Six Nations. The last time we spoke was at the end of 2024<\/a>, his stunning, breakthrough year. <\/p>\n

As we chatted at Sandy Park, Feyi-Waboso breathlessly detailed his great days: his break to set up Marcus Smith\u2019s match-winning drop-goal in the 23-22 win over Ireland; his debut try at Murrayfield; his first tour, to New Zealand; and his dreams of making the British & Irish Lions tour in 2025. <\/p>\n

Feyi-Waboso was also frustrated that niggling concussions had stopped his flow. \u201cI just want to string games together,\u201d he said then, and the next day spent his 22nd birthday on the coach up to Sale Sharks, where he dislocated his shoulder on the Saturday before Christmas.<\/p>\n

That started a saga that kept him out for exactly six months. England and Exeter disagreed on the best medical approach to fix his shoulder, he tried to recover without surgery and then re-dislocated it during England training in the Six Nations. Eventually he went under the knife and missed his chance to force a Lions case.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn that moment everything flashed before my eyes and I was like, \u2018Oh, that\u2019s everything gone then, I\u2019ve messed this up,\u2019 \u201d Feyi-Waboso says. <\/p>\n

\"Immanuel<\/p>\n

Feyi-Waboso, pictured at England\u2019s training camp in Spain, is back in the international frame after missing last year\u2019s Six Nations because of injury<\/p>\n

MARTIN SERAS LIMA\/SHUTTERSTOCK<\/p>\n

Then, against a France XV at Twickenham, Feyi-Waboso hit Antoine Hastoy high with a swinging arm in a summer warm-up game. \u201cI came back and got a red card for England in June, and I was just like, \u2018Oh my God, I\u2019ve missed the Lions anyway, and now the summer tour.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

He was banned for two matches, and still Steve Borthwick took him to Argentina and the United States. \u201cAs soon as it happened, I was like, \u2018Ah I\u2019ve messed up here, that\u2019s a red card for the team,\u2019 and we ended up losing, so you can\u2019t help but think that it was your fault,\u201d Feyi-Waboso says. \u201cIt was just a series of annoying and unfortunate events.<\/p>\n

\u201cLuckily Steve took me on tour, which was a big show of confidence. I was so appreciative, as he shouldn\u2019t have taken me, but he did, and it gave me the opportunity to play more at a high level and train, which is better than doing nothing. That\u2019s what I needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Remarkably, England\u2019s 40-5 win over the US<\/a> in Washington DC was Feyi-Waboso\u2019s only victory in 13 matches for club and country in the 2024-25 season, other than a friendly against Ulster. And so Feyi-Waboso has particularly enjoyed Exeter and England\u2019s recent form. England\u2019s autumn clean sweep of victories \u2014 they are now unbeaten in 11 Tests \u2014 included his first win over the All Blacks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHumungous,\u201d he calls that 33-19 win. \u201cAnd to win the way we did, it wasn\u2019t a close one was it? I felt like we were in control. Even when we lost twice to New Zealand away in 2024 there was no part of me that I thought we\u2019d lose it. The November one ended amazingly, it was so good, and all the others fell into place too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Immanuel<\/p>\n

Feyi-Waboso during what he calls the \u201chumungous\u201d victory over the All Blacks in November<\/p>\n

WARREN LITTLE\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

Aided by new attack coaches at England (Lee Blackett) and Exeter (Dave Walder), Feyi-Waboso is maturing in his third full season of professional rugby. He still wants to work off his wing more to find midfield holes but, as he approaches his 14th cap, Test matches have started to feel slower to him. <\/p>\n

\u201cBefore I felt like a headless chicken running into everything. A lot of that is experience, as I felt like I needed to be everywhere all at once,\u201d Feyi-Waboso says. \u201cI remember when we went away to New Zealand, there was so much stuff that I might not have been in the right position for, or I wasn\u2019t doing the right things. Sometimes in the Prem you can get away with things, or someone wouldn\u2019t see it, but Beauden Barrett \u2026 this guy was just always looking, waiting for someone to make a mistake so he could pounce. It made me appreciate that you have to be in every moment. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tying the two together \u2014 putting myself in good, tactical positions where I can be as instinctive as possible, where I\u2019m at my best, and then I need to find the ball as much as I can in positions where I can help the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blessedly, Feyi-Waboso is a good learner. He has taught himself French and is now moving on to Spanish, while intercalating his medical course with another degree in sports science.<\/p>\n

\u201cI use Duolingo and podcasts,\u201d he says. \u201cEngland are going to Argentina in the summer, so Spanish will be useful. Afrikaans next? We\u2019ll see.\u201d <\/p>\n

Perhaps he should swot up on some Welsh, to understand the full variety of fruity names their fans muster against him on Saturday. But then again, victorious English cheers are really all Feyi-Waboso wants to hear. <\/p>\n

England v Wales<\/p>\n

Saturday, 4.40pm
Twickenham
TV ITV<\/p>\n

The Ruck Podcast: LiveDon\u2019t miss tough tacklers Courtney Lawes and Serge Betsen on March 9, as they compare notes on France v England and the biggest moments of this year\u2019s Six Nations at Twickenham Stoop. Book tickets here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"So much energises Immanuel Feyi-Waboso. To the England wing, so much is \u201chilarious\u201d or \u201camazing\u201d and often delivered…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408004,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-408003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}