England have been dealt a major injury blow after Immanuel Feyi-Waboso was ruled out for the rest of the Six Nations.
Steve Borthwick confirmed the wing would be sidelined for “a number of weeks” following his side’s 48-7 victory over Wales at Twickenham in their opening fixture on Saturday.
Feyi-Waboso withdrew from the starting XV the day before the Wales clash, citing a hamstring injury.
He was replaced on the right wing by Tom Roebuck, who himself returned from a toe problem, in his first appearance since the New Zealand Test last autumn.
Borthwick’s decision to select Roebuck a week earlier than planned, according to scrum coach Tom Harrison, was justified as the No14 dived over for England’s first try of the second half in the seven-try victory.
Speaking after the Wales win, Borthwick revealed that Feyi-Waboso, the Exeter wing, would likely miss the remainder of the championship.
“Manny, it looks like he will be out for a number of weeks,” Borthwick told reporters.
“I don't know how many weeks. [We will get a] specialist opinion.
“Specialists being specialists, I don't know exactly how many weeks it is, but there's a number rather than a single, which is disappointing.
“But that's unfortunately the nature of elite sport - there are injuries and then you have to adapt.”
Elsewhere on the injury front, Borthwick indicated that there was positive news around centre Ollie Lawrence, who is on the recovery trail from a swelling on his knee.
Fin Smith was also ruled out of Wales’ trip to Twickenham with a calf problem, but both he and Lawrence are back in contention to face Scotland at Murrayfield next weekend.
Prop Ellis Genge was also taken off for precautionary reasons as half time against Wales, with the England head coach explaining that he was struggling with a knock.
“Ollie Lawrence looked really good training-wise at the end of last week,” Borthwick revealed. “Fin Smith was in full training and trained very well.
”[Genge] did really well to then get to be playing, to be fit to start and play.
“We thought the right thing to do was to play him 40 and take him off then, as opposed to going and restarting the second half.
“But he came off absolutely fine. You know, it was more of a precautionary change than anything else.”
England face a wounded Scotland next week, after Gregor Townsend’s side were stunned by Italy 18-15 at the Stadio Olimpico.
