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England assistant coach Kevin Sinfield has described injured wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso as the team’s modern-day equivalent of Rugby World Cup winner Jason Robinson. Feyi-Waboso has scored nine tries in 17 appearances for England since making his Test debut in 2024, but his international progress has been repeatedly disrupted by injuries.
Injuries and the Jason Robinson Comparison
Feyi-Waboso missed the 2025 Six Nations due to a shoulder injury, and a hamstring problem sustained in training before the opening round against Wales ended his 2026 tournament. He returned in the summer to score against Fiji and Argentina, but suffered an ankle injury during the first half of a recent match against Australia that ruled him out for the remainder of the autumn campaign.
Drawing a parallel to Robinson—whose pace and side-stepping yielded 28 tries in 51 matches for England—Sinfield told BBC Sport that explosive players often face physical setbacks. “He is our Jason Robinson,” Sinfield stated, noting that players with such power and explosiveness frequently experience a run of injuries despite being diligent about their physical conditioning.
Sinfield emphasized the importance of collaboration with Feyi-Waboso’s club, Exeter, to manage his workload. While England holds ultimate authority over the fitness of centrally-contracted players, past friction between the national setup and Exeter has eased, with England previously clearing the player for a Premiership final shortly after a facial fracture.
Match Decisions and Squad Changes
During the 45-22 victory over the Wallabies, Feyi-Waboso sustained his ankle injury in the 32nd minute but continued playing until half-time. Sinfield explained that coaching staff listened to the player’s desire to run off the injury before making a substitution. “It’s getting the balance right, because the player is telling you he wants to try and run it off,” Sinfield said, adding that visual assessments on the pitch have limitations.
England will also be missing Ollie Chessum, George Furbank, and Seb Atkinson for an upcoming match against Japan. Meanwhile, flanker Tom Curry joins Feyi-Waboso on the sidelines, ruled out for the entire autumn series after aggravating a long-standing hip problem. Saracens player Noah Caluori has been called up to replace Feyi-Waboso in the squad ahead of Saturday’s fixture at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.
Kevin Sinfield’s Ongoing Motor Neurone Disease Fundraising
Alongside his coaching duties, Sinfield reflected on his fundraising efforts for motor neurone disease (MND) following his knighthood last month for services to rugby and charity. Sinfield has raised over £13 million to support those affected by the condition and to search for a cure, driven by the memory of his former Leeds Rhinos teammate Rob Burrow, who died from MND in June 2024 at age 41.
Following a recent challenge involving seven ultra marathons in seven days, Sinfield outlined plans to run seven marathons in seven days across New Zealand and Australia in late May. The upcoming initiative aims to boost global research collaboration, particularly as the profile of MND in Australia has been raised by recent diagnoses affecting NRL player Jai Arrow and former Wallaby Nathan Charles.
“It’s been a great journey and it’s important we continue because there’s no cure,” Sinfield said. “We’ve got to carry on.”
