Feyi-Waboso risked England place for Exeter return

Exeter winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has said he had no choice but to risk his England chances this summer by playing in the Prem final only three weeks after suffering a broken jaw.

The 23-year-old had surgery having sustained the injury in Exeter's win at Leicester at the end of May but was cleared to play in Saturday's defeat by Northampton.

Feyi-Waboso said the rapid turnaround was worth the gamble of potentially missing out on featuring in England's Nations Championship Tests against South Africa, Fiji and Argentina.

"Going into the game I was like, 'what if my jaw breaks?' But it's a final, you have to do it," he said.

"You just have to go full send and hope that the jaw stays intact and it did. I'm just happy that it hasn't jeopardised my chances to be away with England."

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After facing South Africa in Johannesburg on 4 July, England's summer schedule sees them take on Fiji in Liverpool seven days later before they face Argentina in Santiago del Estero on 18 July.

Feyi-Waboso started in Exeter's 26-17 Prem final loss at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, on Saturday, but said it was his decision to take part having had discussions with his surgeons.

"We were taking it week by week," he added.

"You never know that you're going to get to the final but when the boys put in an unbelievable shift against Bath, we had to start asking questions of the surgeons.

"We were planning on the first game being hopefully South Africa. That would have been four or five weeks post-op and even then the chances of my jaw healing weren't high. Two-and-a-half weeks post-op is even worse than that.

"We sat down with the surgeon, England and the Chiefs. Eventually it was all my decision, but they just laid the information out to me.

"They said take a direct blow to the jaw and it's likely the repair is going to fail, but you can try."

Meanwhile, Feyi-Waboso has confirmed he was involved in an altercation with a Bath fan at the end of Exeter's semi-final win at the Recreation Ground that was sparked when a drink was thrown at him.

Feyi-Waboso was sitting in the stands supporting the team alongside other injured and non-selected Chiefs players.

"One of the fans when we were celebrating after, he was leaving at the time," Feyi-Waboso added.

"He was absolutely fine during the match, but as soon as he was leaving he chucked a drink over me, pushed me and threw the cup in my face. What can you do apart from rip his shirt? What can you do? So that's it."