Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has been ruled out of England’s Guinness Six Nations clash with France on Saturday after self-reporting symptoms of concussion.
Feyi-Waboso took a head knock in the 23-22 victory over Ireland in round four that has revived England’s title hopes and, while he finished the match, he later began to feel the effects of a possible concussion.
The electric 21-year-old wing was a likely starter in the climax to the tournament in Lyon after making an impact on his full debut against Andy Farrell’s men.
“Manny felt a bit groggy, so he is unfortunately ruled out of the game, but we don’t take any risks with that sort of stuff,” attack coach Richard Wigglesworth said.
England have ruled out replacing Feyi-Waboso in their 36-man training squad, with Elliot Daly likely to replace him on the wing against France.
Cardiff-born Feyi-Waboso, who was persuaded to pledge allegiance to the Red Rose by Steve Borthwick in January, made his debut in the opener against Italy and then crossed against Scotland before proving a thorn in Ireland’s side on Saturday.
“There was no major incident. He had a knock and didn’t feel quite right, so he reported the symptoms and then was removed accordingly,” Wigglesworth said.
“He’s obviously gutted but being the smart lad he is, he reported his symptoms. He did the right thing.
“It had been building for Manny. You have to integrate these players carefully and I think Steve did that well in how he exposed him to Test rugby so he was ready to fly.
“He played really well, got his hands on the ball and did what we asked him to do and brought his talents.
“It’s very disappointing for him as I know how desperate he was to play again and how much he enjoyed his first start.”