Exeter statement: Immanuel Feyi-Waboso contract extension

New England wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has capped his recent Test-level breakthrough by signing an unspecified length contract extension with Exeter.

The 21-year-old from Cardiff has enjoyed a coming-of-age season at Sandy Park and his winter exploits with the Chiefs vaulted him into the international reckoning with Steve Borthwick.

Having debuted off the bench in Rome in early February, he was a try-scorer as a replacement in the loss to Scotland and that cameo was enough for him to be picked for a first start versus Ireland at the expense of Elliot Daly.

The Exeter University medical student excelled in that Twickenham victory but missed last weekend’s tournament finale away to France due to a self-diagnosed concussion.

He is now going through his return-to-play protocols and could feature in this weekend's Gallagher Premiership game at home to Newcastle.

In the meantime, he has decided that his future is best served by remaining at the Chiefs for the 2024/25 season and beyond after agreeing to a contract extension.

A statement read: “Exeter Chiefs winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has committed his long-term future to the club, signing a contract extension. The breakout international star, fresh from his debut for England in the 2024 Guinness Six Nations, ensures he will be a part of Chiefs’ plans for the foreseeable future.

“The 21-year-old has been a stand-out performer for the Exeter men this season with six tries already to his name and thousands of social media views of his gravity-defying scores like that which he scored against Northampton Saints at Sandy Park in January 2024.

“Brought into the Exeter fold in October 2022 following the demise of Wasps, Feyi-Waboso made his Chiefs debut against Bath in a Premiership Cup clash just a month later.

“Feyi-Waboso is the latest player to commit his future to Chiefs, allowing him to continue his studies at the University of Exeter and remain in the picture for Steve Borthwick’s England plans.”

Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter said: “We are really pleased with Immanuel’s re-signing. People are probably aware we have been looking to bring in young players to reduce the age of our squad in more recent times.

“With what happened at Wasps, when we looked at their players the individuals we looked at mainly were those we saw as the talented players in their academy. We looked at a lot of their Premiership Cup games – and saw Immanuel, Greg (Fisilau) and Alfie Bell standing out.

“Particularly with Immanuel, we knew he was interested in what our university route could provide. So, the planning stages of a route for him to come through worked really well for us. The University of Exeter have been fantastic in helping us align everything for Immanuel around his medical degree.

“Ultimately, we saw a player who had massive physical attributes and huge potential but hadn’t played a lot of rugby. We hoped we could give him that game time and that opportunity, and then hopefully he would come through. Obviously, things have happened very quickly for him, which I’m delighted with.

“It’s great to know that he’s going to be here long term and hopefully we can really help him with his rugby development so that he can go on to get many more England caps and see what else he can achieve down the line. So, it’s a very exciting signing for the club and bodes very well for the future.”