Sinfield says injured Immanuel Feyi-Waboso is 'our Jason Robinson'

England wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso suffered an ankle injury in the first half of Sunday's 45-22 win over Australia in the autumn internationals and has been ruled out for the rest of the campaign, assistant coach Kevin Sinfield said. Sinfield added: "He is our Jason Robinson."

Feyi-Waboso has scored nine tries in 17 appearances for England since making his Test debut against Italy in 2024, but his international progress has been interrupted by a series of injuries. He missed the 2025 Six Nations with a shoulder injury and saw his 2026 tournament ended by a hamstring tear sustained in training before England's opening-round win over Wales. He returned in the summer, scoring in victories over Fiji and Argentina, and had a second-minute score ruled out for a forward pass in a previous phase during Sunday's win over Australia.

In the match with Australia Feyi-Waboso sustained the ankle problem in the 32nd minute, continued to play while hobbling to half-time and was replaced at the interval. Sinfield said the player's wish to remain on the field influenced the decision to keep him on: "It's getting the balance right, because the player is telling you he wants to try and run it off." He added: "You can't scan anyone on the grass, so you're looking at it with your eyes. I think it's only right for us, as coaches, that we listen to players."

Sinfield drew the comparison with Jason Robinson by referencing Robinson's playing attributes and injury history; Robinson scored 28 tries in 51 appearances for England between 2001 and 2007 and tore his hamstring in the Rugby World Cup final defeat by South Africa in his final Test. Sinfield, who played against Robinson during their days in rugby league, said: "When you have a player who is that explosive and that powerful sometimes a run of injuries just happens."

On managing Feyi-Waboso's recovery, Sinfield outlined the need for coordination between England and the player's club: "He's across everything to do with his body and hopefully we get him back firing as soon as we can. "That collaboration [between England and Feyi-Waboso's club Exeter] is going be really important because these guys play a lot of rugby. "Making sure they're fit for those big games is going to be really important." England have the final say over the fitness and conditioning of centrally-contracted players, and Sinfield noted there had been disagreements with Exeter over Feyi-Waboso's treatment in the past but relations have since improved. England signed off Feyi-Waboso's return for June's Prem final only three weeks after he suffered a facial fracture.

Sinfield's comments followed wider squad and off-field matters. Feyi-Waboso, who is studying medicine, has seen his autumn end along with flanker Tom Curry, who has been ruled out of the entire autumn campaign after aggravating a long-standing hip issue. Sinfield, who was knighted last month, has been prominent in fundraising for motor neurone disease after the death of his former Leeds Rhinos team-mate Rob Burrow in June 2024 and has raised more than £13m; he recently completed seven ultra marathons in seven days and plans to run seven marathons in seven days in New Zealand and Australia in late May. Sinfield said: "It's been a great journey and it's important we continue because there's no cure. "We've got to carry on."

England will be without Ollie Chessum, George Furbank and Seb Atkinson for Saturday's match against Japan, scheduled for Saturday 14 November at 16:40 GMT, and Saracens' 20-year-old Noah Caluori has been called up in Feyi-Waboso's place; Caluori scored a try on his England debut against Fiji in July.