Immanuel Feyi-Waboso

It took 77 seconds for Immanuel Feyi-Waboso to score his first Premiership try, and he’s barely stopped since. He signed for three professional clubs before he was 21, but now, irrespective of where he’s been before and what his birth certificate says, he’s finally home. In Devon. 

With the new Gallagher Premiership season weeks away, Exeter Chiefs opens its doors to the press. It lasts all day, with slots allocated to give access to four players, plus Rob Baxter, and there’s the usual mix of old and young heads offered up to share their views to the assembled rugby hacks. 

One man is in particular demand: Immanuel Feyi-Waboso. And it’s not just because of what he did in New Zealand the previous month – when England put the frighteners on the All Blacks – but also what he did to opposition defences whenever he took to the field for club and country. He arrives at our temporary studio in a hospitality suite overlooking the pitch, eating on the go, and understandably weary from the day’s questioning. “I’m glad I don’t have to do too much more,” he admits, before we ask a question he’s answered several times today. In our defence, it’s inevitable, because his rise has been stratospheric. 

In the space of a season, he’s gone from being a player few beyond the most hardcore Chiefs fans [or Cardiff, Wasps, Stourbridge or Taunton Titans fans] had heard of, to tearing up the Premiership; becoming the subject of a headline-grabbing – but entirely imaginary – tug-of-war between England and Wales; making his England debut; scoring on his third international appearance; then making light of the All Blacks in New Zealand, taking two tries from two Tests in Dunedin and Auckland. 

He’s not only single-handedly given Chiefs and England fans reasons to get excited, but also followers of the British & Irish Lions, with his name already scribbled in on Lions XV selections the world over.

So, Manny – as he likes to be called – how’s it been for you? “It feels like it was just like little milestone after little milestone,” he says, trotting out the line he’s probably said all day. “Starting off that year, I was just trying to get into the uni team, then it was trying to get into the Prem Cup team, then the Premiership team, then the England squad came – it was like all tumbling and tumbling, like a snowball effect, and it was all happening so fast.”

Moments that stand out? “My first phone call with Steve [Borthwick], he rang me just after the Northampton game,” responds Manny, referring to January’s 36-42 loss to the eventual champions at Sandy Park. “I didn’t play well in that game, but he rang me just to say I was on the radar, pretty vague really. He wasn’t like, ‘we really want you’, he was just getting to know me.

“Another one was when I started to establish myself in the Exeter squad,” he says, adding another milestone. “I can’t tell you when exactly that was, but there was just a point when I felt strong in the team. And then it was the Six Nations, coming on against Scotland … the Ireland game was crazy, that’s the best game I’ve ever been part of … going to Japan and New Zealand … I can just keep on listing things, there’s just been so many.”

He’s barely had time to catch a breath, although when he has literally done just that during games, he’s been hit by the magnitude of it all. “Against Ireland, there was a break in play and Swing Low was going around, and it was so loud. And I was just, ‘oh my days’, I got goosebumps mid-game.”

Was he ever nervous? “Oh yeah, before games definitely,” he  admits. “Or if I was on the bench, and somebody goes down and it looked like I’m going on. 

“I don’t [feel nervous] when I’m on the pitch though: I just feel like I’m in the groove then, I’m just thinking, ‘where’s the threat?’.”

Both club and country are in stages of transition, each showing glimpses of potential yet to be fully realised. For Manny, when he arrived in the backyard of rugby’s most historically intimidating rugby nation, he felt nothing but confidence. “There’s this huge thing about the All Blacks, people think they’re the best team in the world, they’re rugby gods,” he says. “When we played them, and don’t get me wrong, they’re really good, an amazing team – and they beat us – but it always felt like we could win the game. It was like with Ireland, even when they scored, I felt like we had the upper hand.

“I thought I’d be more nervous for the haka,” he adds, switching back to the All Blacks. “When you’re there facing them, they just look like normal people, but on the TV, I don’t know what it is, it looks different. In person though, it was cool to watch, but I got revved up just as much as them.”

Manny has an easy-going confidence about him, not arrogance, just a belief that he can handle it. He’s calm and considered in everything he does and says. Despite having the brightest of British media spotlights shone on him for the past seven months, he’s taken it in his stride. He’s even pondered if it was all a bit too soon for him. “Sometimes I think maybe if it took a bit longer, I’d be better when I was actually in the [England] set-up. Maybe I’ve gone in too quick? Because there are a lot of things I need to get better at. If I’d made it in a couple of years’ time, I could’ve been even better.”

But, nah, maybe not. “It’s helped me to notice those work-ons,” he decides. “It’s definitely been good in terms of learning what I’m like as a rugby player.”

Born in Cardiff and, at a time when Wales desperately need all the help they can get, it’s perhaps no surprise that when Manny was selected for England, shrieks could be heard from some corners across the Severn Bridge. Even for someone as laid-back as Manny, the clamour to label him this or that was a step too far. “No, that’s one thing,” he says of the headlines, comments and coverage, “I was a bit like, ‘why do people care so much?’. 

“It doesn’t feel that big a deal that you’ve now got to speak to me about it, but it did become a big deal. I want to play for England, close book.

“To this day I’ve never spoken to Warren Gatland, but I spoke to Steve, and he made an effort to build that relationship. And with England, I felt like I would’ve got more going on a summer tour with them than with Wales, same with the Six Nations. And, I’ve lived in England for the past five years, all my family live in England…”

 “At the moment, my dad lives in Cheltenham, my grandma is in Cheltenham,” he adds, “a lot of my family are in London and, on my mum’s side, they’re in the US. So, I don’t actually have anyone living in Wales, I’ve not been back for a while. But don’t get me wrong, I grew up in Wales, I went to school in Wales.”

Did he have dreams of international rugby? “I don’t know, people say all kinds of stuff,” he considers. “People on my English side would say ‘you’re going to play for England one day’, but it’s just a throwaway comment because you’re fourteen, it doesn’t mean anything.”

Whatever the Welsh rugby public or media thought, for friends, family, and coaches, his decision made sense. “People who actually knew me, just thought ‘fair play’, same with my coaches at Rumney [his schoolboy Cardiff club]. 

“I spoke to my Blues academy manager – he’s always been a really great guy for me on my rugby path, he’s been massive,” continues Manny. “And he said, ‘fair enough’. Basically, everyone was understanding who knew me, it was only random people that said I was a traitor, but it’s not that big of a deal.”

In some ways rugby isn’t a big deal to Manny. It’s not that he doesn’t take it seriously, just look at his physique. But he doesn’t come across as a rugby fan. 

Is he a rugby fan? Is that a silly question? “It’s not a silly question,” he responds. “I’ve become more of one [a fan] recently, because I know more about it. 

“I’ve never been a rugby fan that knows things. People tell me the names of players, but I couldn’t name a lot of rugby players myself, even well-known ones. When we have conversations in camp, boys could be talking to me about someone who played four years ago, and I probably wouldn’t know who they are.”

So, if not rugby, what? “I like basketball, MMA, UFC, stuff,” he says. “I’m trying to think of what my YouTube recommends … I like gaming and stuff. I like studying medicine. I find it quite interesting.”

Rugby, he says, kind of just happened to him. When he was at primary school, a new deputy head came in and introduced rugby, so he gave it a go. He made it to schools trials, although, literally, only just made it. “The trials were at Cardiff Arms Park, and I was in Cardiff Arms Park, but I had to ask the steward, ‘where is the Cardiff Arms Park?’, and he said, ‘you’re here’.”

Rugby found him again in secondary school, at Corpus Christi Catholic High School. “My PE teacher was big on rugby, but I was doing athletics at that time. I was doing combined events: hurdles, high jump, long jump, shot put, 800m – I hated that – 200m, 100m…”

Shin splints forced him to reduce his athletics time, and rugby began to take over, not just with school but also with local side Rumney. Cardiff Schools came around again in year ten, which led to Cardiff academy. 

For A-levels, he chose England, in the form of Clifton College. “I was going to leave Cardiff [Rugby] to play rugby in Bristol but the academy manager was like, ‘Oh, we’re willing to offer you a contract to stay with Cardiff’.”

Covid interrupted his rugby education [and his academic one], but he still did enough to earn a call-up to the Pro14’s senior squad, making a single appearance in the Rainbow Cup against Ospreys [a 36-14 defeat, in April 2021].

However, his A-level results would go against him [and Cardiff]. “I came back for pre-season,” he explains. “But I hadn’t had my results back yet, so I didn’t know if I’d got into Cardiff [University] or not. 

“I didn’t get in,” he continues, “So I went to Aston [in Birmingham].”

Unsure if he’d get much game time in Cardiff, he decided to move. Looking back, he feels his lack of rugby knowledge lessened his impact. “I didn’t know anything about rugby at all,” he says. “I was a bit naive a lot of the time. I’d spent a lot of time playing at thirteen, but they wanted me on the wing, and I didn’t really know about backfield coverage and all that stuff.”

Rugby know-how or not, Manny was still an obvious raw talent. And Wasps, then the closest Premiership side to Birmingham, were to benefit. Dai Young, the Cardiff DoR, allowed him to leave for the English club, but it lasted just two appearances, before Wasps folded, and Exeter picked up the promising winger.

Family is complicated, for everyone; it’s no different for Manny. It’s so complicated that in the days leading up to the England versus Wales Six Nations match, a journalist went to huge lengths to unpick Manny’s origins, going back through his history like an episode of Who Do You Think You Are? “It’s crazy seeing all that, because I don’t know how they got all that information,” he half-laughs, obviously uneasy about the level of interest. 

Both his parents were Nigerian, he says, crediting their genetics with his rugby career. “I do think the sport chose me, if I’m honest, it’s a lot of genetics,” he says. 

“On my mum’s side, they’re in pretty good shape – my cousin is a sprinter at the moment, in Switzerland. And on my dad’s side, I feel like everyone’s in pretty good shape too, genetically. They all did well in sports but they’re all academic as well.”

He describes his physique – which looks like it can crash through brick walls, let alone defensive walls – as “naturally skinny, but defined skinny”.

Manny’s dad was never a fan of him playing rugby. “There was a phase where I got a few injuries. I broke my ankle, then I hurt my eye, then I broke my collarbone and, I can’t quite remember what he said but it was along the lines of, ‘okay, so we’re stopping rugby now’.

“But I didn’t want to, I enjoyed rugby, and I was better at rugby than I was athletics even though I was dedicating less time to it. I was giving a lot of time to athletics, which still wasn’t enough compared to others, but with rugby I didn’t even train, I’d just turn up on the weekend and I’d be with the boys. It was maybe a bit more the camaraderie I liked too, I think.” 

Either way, at that stage of his teenage years, both father and son believed rugby wasn’t going to be a career. “I was going to be a doctor,” he says.

Because your dad said that? “Yeah,” he laughs. “My dad’s a doctor, so that must be subconsciously my influence, and my brother [Joshua] is now a doctor – he’s going into the same field as him, ophthalmology, so he’s mirrored my dad.”

Manny is also studying to become a doctor – at Exeter University, part of the deal that enticed him to become a Chief – with half an eye on plastic surgery. “I quite like the idea of that,” he admits. “But it’s more like working with burns, cleft lips, stuff like that. I also think there’s something quite artistic about it. Although, you don’t really know what you want to do until you go on the ward.”

As well as his doctor brother, Manny also has a sister, Zoe, and step brothers and sisters. “My mum died when I was two, and then…” he pauses, again as we go into non-rugby territory. “My dad married my step mum and, yeah, I don’t speak to her anymore, but I’m still really close to my step siblings. It was a family of eight of us from when I was, well, forever.

“As soon as I left home, I tried not to really speak to her but my step siblings, I call them brothers and sisters – I’m very close to both my step siblings and my siblings.

“Normally I’m quite private,” he says, explaining his reluctance to talk too much about family. “I really try not to talk about myself too much. 

“But, yeah,” he adds, “I try to keep it [interviews] just about rugby, but now it’s about life, isn’t it? With people I don’t know, I try to keep it about rugby, but if people ask a question, I might have avoided the question [in the past] or whatever, but I feel I have to [answer] it now.”

A break in the interview. Not from Manny’s side, but mine. A four-year-old daughter cutting in to ask why Bluey won’t play, stopping Manny, and even the photographer in their tracks. Refusing to accept my response, she briefly quizzes Manny before returning to a now, thankfully, responding tablet. He’s unfussed. “It’s fine, it’s fine,” he insists, and genuinely means it.

In the process of working out the Wi-Fi, a tab was still open for a video showing Manny’s debut Premiership try, just 77 seconds into Exeter Chief’s 65-10 crushing of Saracens back in October. Before returning the screen to Bluey, I share it with Manny. It shows Harvey Skinner taking the ball from half-way, pulling three defenders with him, leaving Manny to run in from thirty metres out. Watching it for what seems like the first time since it happened, the childhood delight on his face when he scored, returns. “I was like ‘this doesn’t feel real, this is crazy’,” he says. “It was so good, I literally remember what I was thinking at that moment. It was, ‘no way, there’s literally nobody in front of me, oh my days, I’m gonna score’, hand in the air, ‘this is crazy, is this really happening?’ Jump, dive…

“It did go through my head, ‘don’t drop it, don’t drop it’,” he adds.

That moment seems a world away. That day, a hat-trick from Josh Hodge stole the headlines, but Manny consistently proved a menace, and from there continued to get more minutes each week. A second try later in October, another the next month. Big wins for a resurgent Chiefs. And then an England call-up the following January. He’d not even expected to be a regular for his club, let alone his country. “England was the biggest deal. I felt like an imposter coming into Exeter, but even more so in England, because everyone was just so good.”

Some knew different, such as Henry Slade, who told the BBC at the time: “He is one of the most powerful people I have ever seen. Some of the things he has done at Exeter and I have been this far away from it and I think – ‘how is that even possible?’”

Our time is coming to an end with Manny, he’s about to scuttle away for a final picture or interview of the day. We try to squeeze in a final question, or five.

We finish with the theme we began: where’s home? “I would say Exeter is home,” he says, at first. “I’m hoping to move into a house soon, but it’s taken so long, there’s been chains and stuff.”

He’s not completely finished with the question though, giving it more thought. “My home was my uni halls last year, and before that it was the academy house at Wasps. Until I was eighteen, maybe home was in Cardiff, but I wouldn’t spend that much time there because I was in Clifton from sixteen, and I’d rarely go home – I’d try not to go home. But that was my home.

“When it was covid,” he continues, “I was back at home in Cardiff, but after that I just didn’t really have any plans to go back.”

As we said earlier, family is complicated. Who is he closest to in the family? “Maybe my dad and brother; my sister and I are getting a little bit closer now.”

Why weren’t you close? “Life,” he responds. “Everyone has life going on, it’s just one of them things. But my brother Josh might be living with me next year. He went to Exeter Uni, but he’s a doctor now and might be getting a job in Exeter.”

More quick [ish] questions. What makes you happy? “Arguing with people. I really love arguing with people,” he says. “Not actually like arguing [aggressively] with people but some of the most enjoyable times are when we’re talking about things that don’t mean anything, but we have different points of view.

“Anyone I can argue with, I enjoy their company, the more debates the better. 

“In England camp, I had a few debates.”

Who with? “Maro [Itoje], Sam Underhill.”

What about? “All kinds of stuff.”

What is success when you look at your career?  “I’m not a huge fan of telling people my goals, but I do have rugby goals, I definitely have a lot of rugby goals, I’ve written them down but, as I said, I’m not a fan of telling people my goals.

“And then in life, well I do want to become a doctor.”

Do you want a family? “I do want to have a family. But when you say ‘goals’ that’s not what I’m thinking about. Yeah, down the line, I do. But I want to get my life nice and right now, so I can enjoy family later.”

Will you ever have to choose between rugby and medicine? “After next year, because years three, four and five are clinical, where you’re out on wards, so, it’s pretty full time then. I can either take years out of education, or try and do both, but I probably won’t be able to do that. 

“Hallam Amos [his former Cardiff team-mate] managed to do both because he spread out the amount of time on each ward, but I’m not sure Exeter Uni do that. 

“Anyway,” he concludes, as Rugby Journal’s time is now definitely up, “I don’t have to make the decision now, so I’m going leave that for a future Manny.”

And future Manny is going to be something to behold. Already a special player that’s achieved special things, given that he believes it may have happened a couple of years too early, just imagine how good he’s going to be when he’s actually ready? A Lion in waiting if ever there was one. 

Story by Alex Mead

Pictures by Philip Haynes & Getty Images

Illustration by Kervin Brisseaux

This extract was taken from issue 27 of Rugby.
To order the print journal, click here.